


Christmas Surprise (a Secret Santa story).

by Rioghna



Series: Secret... [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Family Drama, Light Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-13 01:34:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 31,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9100600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: A year after the events in Secret Santa, Belle and Gold are getting ready to celebrate a quiet Christmas, as well as their one year dating anniversary.  Or they were, until a couple of unexpected guests turn up.





	1. Surprise

Christmas Surprise

Belle French finished dusting the counter and started to consider giving the floor a sweep. She was behind the counter of Gold's Antiques and Pawn, not a particularly unusual place to find her when the library where she was librarian, was closed, like it was now. Today, it was two days before Christmas, and Rum was working on a particularly difficult repair, so she had volunteered to man the counter, since he was open a bit later than usual. It allowed him to finish without having to wait 'til after he closed, especially so close to the holiday. There were plenty of people who disliked, or outright hated Gold, but everyone admitted that for gifts that had a measure of style or class, there were few other options, not without leaving town. That meant that it had been busier than usual. It also meant that, if she staffed the counter, he would not be doing the repair afterward instead of spending time with her, so her motives were not entirely altruistic. Belle was more than willing to do it, especially if it meant they would be able to leave on time. They had plans. Nothing terribly fancy, but with the holidays coming on, neither had a lot of time, and she missed him.

It had been almost exactly a year since they had started dating and they had planned to celebrate their one year anniversary and Christmas together, since it was a busy season for both of them. Thinking about their plans made her smile. It had not been an easy year, or an easy relationship. They had fought before Valentine's Day, and there was ongoing tension with her father, who hated Rum for, she was almost certain, some business issue, but she had flat refused to ask, or to involve herself in any way. Still, at the moment, she was not speaking to him, not after her father had tried to insist that she have Christmas with him, only the two of them. It hurt, but there was no way she was going to allow him to ruin things again. Last year he had shown up with the oaf that he'd spent years trying to set her up with. Instead, despite his saying Rum would have it catered, she insisted on cooking, this time at his house, in his big, lovely kitchen, and then dinner for just the two of them, along with their two cats (he said they were hers but that didn't seem to matter much as far as the little ones were concerned).

Besides that, there were the almost constant battles with Regina Mills, Storybrooke's mayor and resident evil queen. Belle had made the mistake of commenting to her best friend, Ruby, how much her mayorness reminded her of the Evil Queen in the Snow White story and ever since then, Ruby called her the EQ behind her back, never failing to get a laugh from Belle. Regina also hated Rum. She hated the library as well, and had added the librarian to that list, and that was before she found out that they were dating, which had not improved the situation.

At least her best friend had finally forgiven her. Ruby had not been thrilled when she found out that Belle was dating Gold, but she had been even more upset when she found out that they had been dating for two months before she told her. "How could you keep that a secret, and how can you date _him_ anyway?" she'd asked her the day after Valentine's Day, the day the two of them had walked arm in arm down Main Street together in front of the entire town to go to breakfast at Granny's Diner.

"Because I knew you would react just that way," Belle had told her honestly. "And he is really a wonderful person, once you get past the..."

"The monster? I mean, really Belle, I know Gaston was a nightmare but..."

"But he's intelligent, he reads, he likes the same things I do...I can't really explain it. But I really like him." Of course Ruby had come around. Unfortunately, her new relationship had not done as much as she would like to get rid of her not nearly ex enough. Gaston had made several attempts to get her alone and, after one memorable occasion where he'd actually come into the library and grabbed the flowers that Rum had given her and thrown them to the floor, she had been forced to ask Graham to have a talk with him. At least he'd not been a problem recently, though Belle had a sneaking suspicion that Rum had also had a talk with him, one that involved the word 'eviction', which, since the man owned most of the town and all of the rental property, would have left him without a place to hang his hat. Belle hadn't asked about that either. Not that she wanted Rum threatening people on her behalf, but on the other, she was very grateful not to have to worry about him coming around. Unfortunately, Gaston's learning curve was more or less a straight line and she knew that eventually he would be back around. But for now there was peace. A lot of people had given her strange looks and she knew that there were those who were talking behind her back about her relationship, but she decided it was none of their business. She'd never much cared what other people thought before, she wasn't going to start now, not when she was happy.

Getting away from those thoughts, she decided that what she really needed to do was finish her grocery list. Tomorrow she needed to get to the grocery store after work so that she was ready to go straight to Rum's after work on Saturday for Christmas Eve. Belle was just starting to organise what she needed to do when the bell over the door rang out, announcing a customer.

"Hello," she greeted the dark haired man who came into the shop. Something about him seemed a little familiar but she couldn't place him. He also seemed surprised to see her. Probably he was expecting Rum, maybe one of his out of town customers or a supplier?

"Uh, hi. Sorry, I was expecting..." he started a little uncomfortably.

"He's just in the back finishing a repair," she said brightly, trying to put him at ease while wondering why he looked concerned. "I'm just manning the counter. I'll go get him."

"It's okay. I'll just..." He strode forward but as he reached the counter, the curtain moved and the familiar tapping of Rum's cane announced him.

"Belle, I thought..." he started before his eyes fell on the other man. "Bae? I..."

"Hey Papa. Surprise?"


	2. Bad news, good news

For a moment they were all silent. Then Rum made his way around the counter and stretched a hand out. The younger man reached out too, and hugged his father. It was an awkward hug, but Belle could see it meant the world to Rum. She had been encouraging him to improve his relationship with his son, but it was slow, especially with them limited to the telephone. Besides, having been rejected before, he was cautious. It didn't help that he hid his emotions, the habit of a lifetime.

"I am going to guess that makes you Belle then," Bae said, turning to her and smiling. Rum held a hand out to encourage her from behind the counter. "I should have known immediately, of course, Papa doesn't let just anyone back there."

Belle started to say something when the door opened again and a blond woman in a red leather jacket came in. "Hey Cassidy..." she stopped when she saw them standing there. "Gold," she greeted him with a nod.

"Ms Swan," he responded. "Or is it Cassidy now?"

"It's Swan," she told him. "But you should probably call me Emma. I wasn't sure..."

"It just didn't seem right. It's not like it is even my name at all. Legally, well I'm not sure Mama did it right."

"She didn't," Gold said a bit offhandedly. "She would have needed my permission which she never had, and of course I would have been able to find you." The conversation had turned awkward all of a sudden, not that it had ever really been anything else.

"So, you and your wife have come for the holidays then? That will be lovely," Belle said. She smiled brightly, but inside she was in a little bit of turmoil. She was thrilled that Rum's son had come and she was truly glad that it seemed they were making progress. At the same time, suddenly, she didn't know where she fit. Would Rum even want her included? Would Bae?

"Yeah, ummm..." the young man started slowly.

"Bae?" Rum asked, a little concerned now.

"It's a little awkward, Papa. I mean, we were planning on coming for the holidays as a surprise. We both happened to get time off from work, and then something happened and...well, we just needed to come."

"I should go," Belle said immediately. "You need to catch up. I'll just..."

Rum turned to her and took her hand. "There is no need, sweetheart. Anything..."

"No, really. It's better that you have the time. We can..."

"Look, can we table this whole thing for right now, and get some food? It's been a long drive and if I don't get some coffee soon, you're going to regret it, Cassidy," the woman said to Bae. "I'm Emma Swan by the way," she said holding a hand out to Belle, reminding them that they had forgotten to make the proper introductions.

"We could go to Granny's," Bae said. "I'm guessing that they still have the best burgers around. Emma's right. Come on, Papa. Everything else can wait. Besides, Belle, you should come too. I would really kind of like to get to know the woman who is dating my father."

"By which he means the woman that can put up with me," Rum said with a smile, though Belle gave him a look. She wasn't entirely certain about the whole thing, but Rum nodded encouragingly. She didn't know whether it was in order for them to get to know each other, or because he wanted some kind of buffer, but she found herself agreeing. "I need to close up shop," Rum said. "Do you want to take Ms...Emma to the house first? That is, if you want to stay. You are welcome, of course."

"We'd like that, Papa," his son said quietly. "We can drop our stuff off."

"Very well. Do you still have your key, or..."

"I do," Bae said. "Want us to meet at Granny's in, say, half an hour?" He looked at Emma to confirm.

"As long as I've got coffee at the end."

Rum turned to Belle the moment the two of them left. "Are you all right, sweetheart?" he asked. Belle wondered how much of her nervousness was showing.

"I should be asking you that. I know how much you have wanted him to come home for any reason," she told him.

"I did. I just wasn't expecting it like this. It changes things a bit," he said.

"Yes, but we can have our celebration after..." she hurried to reassure him. The last thing Belle wanted was him to think she was going to interfere.

"What?" he asked, looking at her in confusion.

"You'll want to spend Christmas with your son and..."

"And you. Not to mention the little imps. My son is here and I've wanted this for a long time, but you are just as important to me. You are part of my life, a big part. They will have to accept it. I am not going to choose, no matter what." Unlike her father was unsaid.

"Are you sure? I mean, we could just..."

"We will continue with our plans. Did I not mention I am a greedy monster? I want all of you there. The only thing I was going to ask was whether you wanted to reconsider catering. It's two more than you planned."

"Two more at the table is nothing. I make too much anyway, and these are welcome." They were both thinking of last year when her father had brought her ex along to dinner, making it very uncomfortable for everyone.

"It's settled then." Belle hoped it was that easy. Clearly Bae and Emma had something to tell Rum. She just hoped that whatever it was, it wasn't too awful.

 

Belle and Rum made it to the diner minutes before Emma and Bae and were getting seated when they came in and started towards the booth in the back. "Bae Gold?" Granny said from behind the counter. "That you, boy?" Several people turned around to look, including Ruby. It had been a long time and most of those that had known him would not recognise him, except Granny.

"Hey Granny," he said, turning to greet her, shaking hands and introducing Emma. It would probably have turned into more, but he made it clear they were meeting his father and Belle, and their presence in the back of the restaurant meant a lot of people would be reluctant to interfere. They settled into the other side of the booth and ordered quickly, while Ruby brought Emma her much needed coffee. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Bae said. "I forgot how small town this place could be."

"They'll get bored soon enough," Belle said. "I speak from experience." She looked at Rum and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Papa still scaring half the town, right? I'm sorry, I've tried, but I don't remember you from school or anything else."

"You wouldn't. I don't think we had moved here until...well..."

"Yeah, Papa, about that... I need to tell you. I don't know how to say this, and I'm not even sure you'll care but," Bae started hesitantly.

"Oh for god's sake," Emma said impatiently. "Gold, your ex is dead." It was said bluntly, but Belle got the impression that it was her way. Still, she reached for Rum's hand. She wasn't entirely sure how he would take it, honestly anymore than Bae was. The break up had been horrible, and she'd kidnapped his son. Belle was almost sure he was over the anger though.

"Milah?" Rum asked. For a moment after Bae's nod of confirmation he was silent. "How are you?"

"I don't know to tell the truth," Bae said. "She left me a long time ago. She always cared more about her 'adventures' than she did me." He shrugged.

"Well, if you were concerned about me, lad, I appreciate it, but it's not necessary. I made my peace with your mother a long time ago. I have a better life now." He squeezed Belle's hand. "How did it happen?"

"Drunk driving accident. She and Killian went off the coast road some place in Oregon. They found the car and her body. Apparently she still had my information in her wallet. To be honest, I didn't know she knew where I was. We weren't in touch, not for years. You know I never liked her boyfriend," Bae said quietly.

Nothing was said as the food came and they waited for Ruby to leave. "She loved you," Rum said, finally. "It was me she hated."

"Come on, Papa, face it, she wasn't made to be a wife and mother. It just wasn't in her. She liked the idea a lot more than the day to day," Bae told him. They all turned to the food then. When they spoke again, it was general. Belle had the impression that there was something more, but she tried not to worry, turning her attention back to the conversation. "We didn't want to say anything, Papa," Bae was saying. "Didn't want to have to cancel. With Emma's job, we can never tell how things are going to change."

"But we happened to finish up early, and one of the guys in my squad needed to be off for Hanukkah. He and his wife have a new baby, and the grandparents are using the holiday as an excuse for a visit, so since it's late this year, we swapped for a couple extra days."

"What do you do, Emma?" Belle asked.

"I'm a cop. Right now I'm stuck in the warrants squad," the blond told her.

"But you get to kick in doors, you like that part," Bae said with a lopsided smile that reminded Belle instantly of his father. "Oh, Papa, I forgot to ask, when did you get a cat? I saw the feeding station in the kitchen."

"I didn't, or rather..." Rum began.

"We share custody," Belle explained. "They are at my apartment at the moment."

"Should I...oh god, Papa, I didn't even think," the young man said suddenly. "You always say to come. I never even considered what you and Belle might have planned."

"Told you, Cassidy," Emma said, but Bae was looking horrified and Belle knew it was time to step in.

"It doesn't matter," she told him. "Honestly, I was cooking and I always manage to make enough food for a small army. You are saving us from eating leftovers for the next month."

"And she is an excellent cook".

After a few further reassurances, they accepted, especially with a home cooked meal involved. "I'm a terrible cook," Emma admitted. "And he's worse. We mostly live on take out." With that settled, they finished their dinner with general talk. Belle told them about the library, and Bae asked after a few people he'd known when he was a kid. She was almost certain that Rum had a lot more on his mind than he was letting on. He seemed to take the death of his ex wife well, but she knew that there was more to it. More than anyone, she knew how emotionally abusive his ex had been. Oh, he'd never said, but it was there, behind some of the things he said, in his caution about their relationship. She had her own opinions on that as well.

They walked out of the diner together. "I left the Bug by the shop," Bae said.

"Good, we can go back to the house and you can tell me the other thing that's brought you here all of a sudden, the one you didn't want to tell me in public," Rum said with a canny smile.

"How did you..." he started.

"I'm your father, lad, nothing will ever change that. I still know that look. You're not expectin' are you?" Rum asked, his accent deepening a little. "Because..."

"Not exactly, it's something else." They had just crossed the street when Belle saw Henry Mills walking with his backpack over his shoulder.

"Henry, what are you doing out so late by yourself?" Belle asked. "Your mother will go spare." But Henry wasn't paying any attention to her, he was looking at Emma.

"Are you Emma Swan?" he asked. She nodded. "I'm your son."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm glad that you are reading this. I always planned another story in this 'verse and knew it was going to be a Bae story, I just didn't quite realise what it was going to be. Hope you are enjoying. Please do all those usual things.


	3. The other shoe

For a moment there was only stunned silence. Then Gold looked at Henry. "What are you talking about, Henry, lad?" He was still looking shocked and for a moment Belle had been concerned for his health. It just wasn't the sort of surprise either of them had been expecting.

Henry looked from one to the other of them before turning to Gold. If he was surprised to see the pawnbroker, or Belle with the other two, he didn't say anything. "I'm adopted," he said.

"Yes, I know that, I did the legal paperwork for it, but..." he said dismissively.

"I decided to find my birth mother. I've been doing a bunch of research at the library."

"Is that what you were working on?" Belle asked.

"You know about this?" Gold asked, a bit sharply. Belle ignored his tone, considering the shock.

"Not specifically, no. I know he was doing some research but not what he was looking for. I didn't know you were adopted, Henry. It was before I came back to town." Gold nodded absently.

"I think we'd best discuss this somewhere other than the sidewalk," he said. "Henry, how did you get out? Your mother..."

"It's okay. I snuck out. Mom's...ummm....she's,"

"Ah, out, no doubt with our estimable Sheriff," he agreed. Despite what she thought, Regina Mills and Graham Humbert had, well, Gold didn't want to speculate on exactly what they had, but it was the worst kept secret in Storybrooke. The boy nodded and looked like he was going to say more, but at that moment a black Mercedes came down the street at speed and breaked to a halt more abruptly than was probably safe.  Regina jumped out.

"Henry Mills, what do you think you are doing?" she shrieked. "You are supposed to be home. I told you..."

"Mom, I..." he started to say something, but Gold caught his eye and shook his head sharply. The message was clear, not here, not now. The boy didn't look like he was going to listen, but looking at how mad his mother was decided him that maybe it was best.

"Well Regina, something interrupt your evening's...plans, then?" Gold asked with a knowing smile. "I imagine the lad was just a bit curious, hearing that my son and his wife had come back to town." He nodded to Bae and Emma.

"Bae?" Regina asked, looking at him.

"Regina. Long time," he answered.

"Not long enough," she snapped. "The prodigal son, ha. What, your father's little gold digger got you afraid for your inheritance, or just come to see what you could get from him?"

"No, I'm not your mother," he said evenly. Clearly the long standing dislike hadn't gone anywhere. "I came for the holidays."

"Why you..."

"Mom," Henry tried to interrupt her. Belle was almost certain that the situation was going to get out of hand quickly. She put a hand on Rum's arm as she saw him tighten his grip on his cane. This was not the family reunion any of them had wanted, of that she was sure.

"Listen, bi...lady," Emma amended at the last minute in deference to the boy. "I don't know who the hell you are, and frankly, I could care less. But the only person who gets to talk to my husband like that is me. Now, if you've got something to say to me..."

"It's okay, Emma," Bae said. "Classy as always, Regina."

"I'd be takin' Henry home, Madame Mayor, where I you," Gold stepped in and said. That he was angry was clear to everyone, and while Regina did not rent from him, she knew for a fact that he knew things, secrets that she would rather not come out, not now. Clearly he knew about her and the sheriff, something that she was very anxious to keep from Henry. Besides, this was neither the time nor the place to hash out old grievances.

"Get into the car, Henry," she said sharply. The boy looked back at them as he stepped reluctantly towards the black sports car. It was obvious that this was not in the least his vision for their first meeting, but slowly, he got into the passenger seat and strapped in, as Regina roared off in excess of the posted speed.

"Well, that was dramatic," Gold said bitterly.

"Papa," Bae started.

"At home," his father said. His accent was thickening, not usually a good sign. The younger man nodded.

"I'll just go back..." Belle told him. She wasn't entirely sure where she fit into this picture.

"No, Belle, come back to the house. I'll not have everything ruined. Besides, I think this concerns all of us," Rum told her quietly.

"I need to take care of the little ones," she objected.

"We'll pick them up," he told her.

  
Deciding that, besides being eaten up with curiosity, perhaps her presence would help keep the peace, she agreed. Things had been tricky with his son and she would hate to see his temper set them back. But the new revelation was a bit of a shock for all of them. They said nothing as they drove back to the house. The cats were even quiet in their carrier, possibly sensing the mood.

 

They went inside and Belle let the cats out while Rum went into his office to get a drink. Bae and Emma were in the living room. He was busying himself with the fire, while Emma paced around the room, picking up and putting down random objects. Mungo stuck a curious head into the room, then retreated back to his dinner.

Belle heard the familiar tapping as Rum came in, a glass of scotch in one hand. "Papa," Bae said, standing up from the fire.

"Just tell me one thing first. Is Henry Mills my grandson?" he asked.

"Yes." The swearing startled them all, for all that it was very quiet. Rum had told Belle once that the only Gaelige words he knew were curse words. It had amused his father to teach them to the little four year old before he'd gone off, leaving the boy with his aunts. Rum always said that it proved useful with Bae was still living with him, as the lad didn't understand a word. It was a measure of his new level of distress that he did so now. "Let me explain please?" his son asked quietly as he stepped away from the fire.

It took a moment. "I'm not angry with you, lad, though I'll admit, I'm not happy either. But whatever this is, it'll not be clean or pretty."

"You did the paperwork. You didn't know?" Emma asked.

"Of course not!" he growled. "Do you think I'd let Regina Mills anywhere near my grandson if I'd known? I'd have taken the lad meself. If I noticed your name, it meant nothing to me at the time. I didn't know about you then, nor did I know where Bae was, or what he was called."

Emma just nodded. Belle encouraged Rum to sit down on the settee next to her. Clearly it was going to be a rough evening for them all. The cats crept carefully into the room and, as Emma sat down in one of the chairs, came to sniff at her shoes. Bae stayed standing though. "I know I didn't tell you. I didn't know how and it hurt a lot. Besides, well, it didn't matter. It all starts with Mama and Killian, actually."

"What the hell does..." Rum started, but Belle put a calming hand on his arm.

"Let him tell it," she whispered.

"You know Mama and Killian had left me with a friend when they went off on one of their 'adventures'. When she didn't come back, they dropped me off at child's services. I don't think they knew where you were, and I was so angry after what she'd told me, and you know how I felt about Cora...I was bitter and angry at both of you. I bounced around in and out of foster homes, group homes, got into some trouble, got sent back. Then I met Emma," he said, smiling and put a hand on her arm. "Didn't straighten me out, but well, we fell in love. Then..."

"Then I got pregnant," she put in. "We decided we needed to make some choices and fast. I'm an orphan, as far as I know. They found me as a baby, and a boy who they thought was probably my brother wandering around in a rural area north of Boston. I got ahold of the report several years ago. They thought we had been in some kind of accident, but that's beside the point. They separated him and me. I bounced around from home to home too before I met Bae. The point is, I didn't want that for my kid. We decided to buckle down, try to make a home for the kid."

"And then Mama and Killian showed up," Bae said, taking back over. "I never knew how they found me. I was working in a warehouse, Emma was waitressing and we were both studying for our GEDs. Killian said he had this 'business opportunity'." He sighed. "I knew it was shady, but I didn't think it was really illegal. He said all we needed to do was pick up the merchandise, a duffle bag full of watches, he said. I thought maybe, maybe they had fallen off the back of a truck. He thought it was better if Emma picked them up. After all, who would suspect a pregnant woman? If I'd known, I never would have let her," he said angrily. "But it was good money, and we were living in this fleabag week to week motel, saving every cent, and not getting far."

"You got nicked?" Rum asked. He was getting angry again, but Belle knew it was at the dead man, and the woman who had given him his son.

"No, Emma did," Bae told them. "It was a duffle bag, all right. No watches though, guns. He was smuggling them on that old boat of his. I told him to go get Emma out. We fought, and Mama, well, she said some things I couldn't forgive. He took a swing at me, and I swung back. I walked out and never spoke to either of them again."

"Bae showed up and turned himself in," Emma said, patting her husband's arm awkwardly. Demonstrative, she wasn't. "He told them I had nothing to do with it. I got released finally, but we had nothing left. I didn't even know what would happen to us," she explained.

"I told them everything I knew, which wasn't much," Bae told them. "In the end, I got six months for plain stupidity. But the baby was coming and...well, we decided."

"We decided on a private adoption. I figured that way the kid stood a chance. It was a better life than we could have given him, with Bae still in jail. Hardest thing I ever did," Emma explained. "When Bae did get out, we took the fee and went to New York, and tried not to think about it. Until two days ago, when we were getting ready to come here, when I got an email from a boy named Henry."

When they finished their story, they were all emotionally and physically exhausted. Rum poured everyone a glass of brandy. He had closed down and it was only after they finished their drinks that he spoke. "We are all tired. Think sleep is best."

"I'm sorry, Papa," Bae said, rising from where he had settled on the arm of Emma's chair.

"Get some sleep," he said. Belle looked at him sharply. She knew he was having trouble with all this, but it wasn't time to close down. "Bae." The young man turned around. "I'm glad ye're home, no matter what the reason."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad you are enjoying this. I am afraid that it is not as short as I thought, or rather, it's probably not the end of the series. Please do the usual things.


	4. Ghosts of the past

It might have been a little awkward, Belle sleeping at the house that night, sleeping, obviously, with his father, but considering the situation, well, there were other things on everyone's mind. Rum, in particular seemed to want to shut down and Belle was determined to get him alone and drag everything out of him before he allowed those deep seated insecurities to take hold again. It had been the sort of thing that had almost broken them apart back in February and she was determined that he wasn't going to do it with his son, not after what they had been through to get back together.

When Rum came into the bedroom from locking up for the night, she could tell he was going to sink deeper into his dark mood. "Penny for 'em," she asked. She was sitting on her side of the bed brushing her hair. She watched while he went through his evening routine, returning to bed and sitting down with a grimace. "Rum?' she asked, patting the bed next to her. They had some of their best conversations curled up in his big antique bed. It was where they had spent their first night together, where they had made up their fight, and where she had found solace after the latest fight with her father. It was a comfortable place for them to connect, both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, Belle didn't think lovemaking would solve this, at least not entirely. "What is it?"

"I've failed him, failed both of them," he said sadly. "If I'd somehow found him sooner, or if..."

"You stop that right now," Belle said so sharply that his head snapped around. "Tell me, how do you think you failed?" This time her voice was gentle and she encouraged him back into the bed and settled next to him.

"If I had found him earlier..." he started.

"You did everything you could, didn't you? You followed every lead, offered a reward, you even hired private investigators didn't you?"

"Yes. I sent them looking for Bae, for Milah, even that bastard Jones. Actually I spend a fair bit and I...well, I have some less than respectable contacts, from my younger days back in Glasgow. I _knew_ Jones was into some dodgy dealings, but I never thought Milah would involve our son," he exclaimed in anger.

Privately, Belle thought it had been less about involving her son than getting rid of Emma and the baby. From what she could tell based on what Rum had said, his ex wife was just the sort who would want to get rid of a troublesome and forthright young woman like Emma, and try to bring her son back especially since, by that time, he'd grown up to the point where he no longer needed to be cared for.. No, a girlfriend and a baby would not fit into her narrative and Belle told Rum as much.

"Do ye really?" he asked, but she could see him thinking about it. That was always the first step with him.

"And how much time did you waste tracking Jones and Milah, not knowing that Bae wasn't with them?" she asked.

"More than a fair bit," he admitted. "The two of them moved around Quite a lot, I would just find them and they were gone. I was worried about Bae missing school. If I'd known... An' if he'd not been so angry wit' me. He hated Cora. At the time I put it down to me datin' or maybe his mother, though Bae never seemed interested in us gettin' back together after we split up. He seemed happy enough here before that. But now I'm thinkin' it was that he really hated Cora that much."

"It doesn't matter, and I'm sure he will tel you as much when you talk tomorrow, which you will," she told him, giving him her best librarian face.

"But Belle, I gave my grandson to Regina Mills. If Bae had only called or..."

"Bae was an adult, and he bears the responsibility for this as well. Have you changed your phone number?" He shook his head. "I know you haven't moved nor has the shop. So all he had to do was reach out and pick up a mobile, and tell you his girlfriend was pregnant. What would you have done?"

"After being bloody grateful he was callin' and was not hurt? Given him a lecture about practicing birth control if he didn't want to be a father, for a start. He knew Milah and I got married because she was pregnant. I didn't want him to know, but Milah shouted it to the rafters during one of our more epic fights. Then I'd ask him what the two of them wanted to do. It's not like when I was young, there are options. I'll admit, if they decided on adoption, I'd probably have arranged to take the lad, though."

"And if he'd called and told you he was in jail and why, you would have been in Boston as fast as the Cadillac would take you, probably breaking every speed law between here and there," Belle agreed. "But the point is that he had options as well. You cannot take all the responsibility. If anything, this situation should shows me exactly how much like you he is."

"What do you mean?" Rum asked. He had relaxed just a little and she could see that he was not nearly as closed off as he had been. He was thinking again, which was what she wanted.

"Your son found himself in a situation and did his best, not only to fix it, but to take care of everyone involved. Of course, Emma seems very level headed. I suspect that is part of it. However the point is, he could have left her to her fate, but he didn't. Bae did the right thing and he certainly didn't get _that_ from his mother."

At that, Rum kissed her, and she knew she had gotten through it him. It wasn't over, but at least he wasn't crawling off into a corner to nurse his insecurities. "Know one thing I did right," he whispered against her hair. "I didn't let you go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry this is late. I had a bit of...well, it's not bad news but I may very well have just had a change of circumstances, suddenly. I'm not exactly sure what will be happening, but at least I got this finished.


	5. The morning after

Morning brought the awkwardness that they had avoided the night before, at least for Belle. Last night, she had been busy worrying about Rum. The morning, however, which saw her making their usual tea while he was in the shower, was a different story. In fact, she would often join him, but they were both still feeling a bit unsure. While both of them acknowledged that Bae was both married and had produced a child, it didn't mean that he would not be uncomfortable when confronted with evidence of his father's relationship. Rum had told her that he had never had Cora to the house and not just because Bae didn't like her. 'I didn't want to set a bad example,' he'd said. 'Of course, his mum had shacked up with Jones, and they were not so circumspect.'

Now, thinking that Bae and Emma were still asleep, Belle puttered around the kitchen wearing a robe that belonged to Rum over her nightdress. Mung and Rumple were laying in their kitchen bed next to the heat. Really, she thought, Rum spoiled the two cats entirely too much. The kettle came up, and she was pouring water into the pot when Bae came into the kitchen.

Belle jumped just a little, but managed not to drop, break, or burn anything or anyone. "Oh, I didn't know you were awake," she said, startled.

"I'm not," he reassured her. Belle studied the young man. In all honesty, he was closer to her age than Rum, but then she had known that. In fact Rum had expressed reservations about the age difference early on. Fortuately they had got past it. He was taller than his father, and while his hair was the same colour, minus the slight silver, it was curly and, at the moment, standing up on one side and flat on the other. He clearly had just got out of bed and was clad in a pair of plaid pyjama bottoms, and a tee shirt. "I am going to guess that the chances of finding coffee in this kitchen are still slim and none?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Pretty much. I can offer you some tea," Belle told him. "I'm not much of a coffee drinker." She could see that Bae was studying her as intently as she was him.

"It's okay. I came prepared," he said pulling two packets of instant out of his pocket. "Papa was never much of a coffee drinker, either. If there is some hot water left..." He nodded toward the kettle she was still holding.

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry, I'm not quite awake yet myself," she said, setting the kettle down and pulling a couple of mugs from the cabinet, and setting them in front of him.

"Thanks. Emma is even worse before coffee," he explained.

"I'll pick some up when I go to the store later. I'm almost certain that there is a coffee pot of some sort around here..."

"Belle," Bae interrupted her. "Listen, about you and Papa." Belle froze. While she knew it was really none of his business, she was hoping that it wouldn't be difficult. She loved Rum, but she did not want to be a point of contention. "I just wanted to say....well, you don't have to worry about me. I'm good with it." She let out a breath that she didn't really know she was holding. "I'll admit, when he first told me, I was a little...I didn't approve of his last girlfriend, as I'm sure you know. It was an issue between us. Papa has generally had lousy taste in women, my mother included. At least until now. He's been different in the last year since you've been together, happier, more like he used to be, and I'm really grateful to you. I just wanted to say that before..."

"Before what lad?" The tap of the cane preceded Rum into the kitchen, the signal for the cats to wake up. One of them ran to him and put a paw on his dressing gown, a hint he took to lift him up and set him around his shoulders. "Not trying to talk Belle out of dating your auld man?" he asked lightly, or rather he was trying for light, but there was fear in the background.

"Not at all, Papa," he said, dropping a hand onto his father's shoulder, leading the cat to swarm up and claim the high ground. "Hey, watch it, little...guy?' Bae guessed, laughing.

"Aye, and he likes you, which is more than most people," Rum said, smiling.

"I was telling Belle that I'm good with you two," he said, seriously. "And, now, I'd best get this coffee to Emma before she comes looking for it. Can you?" he asked, pointing to his passenger. "Don't worry, he'll get down when he's ready," his father advised him. "Get your coffee in you, and we can go to Granny's for breakfast."

 

"All good sweetheart?" Rum asked when his son was gone. Belle had come around the counter to set the tea on the table.

"It is, yes," she reassured him as she reached out for a kiss before they sat down for their tea. Rumple, realising that her brother had gone off, leaving two perfectly good laps going spare, had come to plant herself in Belle's with a purr and maybe a suggestion about the remaining contents of the cream pitcher.

"I'm glad. I...well, I'd hate to have you at odds. You know I love you?" he asked before leaning to kiss her.

 

By the time they had finished their tea and gotten dressed for the day, Emma and Bae had joined them, both dressed and ready to go. "He says they have good pancakes and actual coffee," she said shortly. Clearly 'awake' was a relative term in her case.

"Certainly. We can take my car. I have to open the shop today, and at some point we will have to discuss what to do about..."

"Coffee first," Emma said. "But we should take both cars, we might..."

"Nothing in Storybrooke is that far, Em," Bae told her.

"And you can take the car if you need," Rum said. "Belle do you want me to have Dove pick you up from the grocery store? I know you wanted to go after the library closes."

"Papa, you..wait, you'd let me drive the Caddie?" he said, focusing on the first part of the sentence.

"You are my son. Is there a reason I shouldn't trust you?' his father asked him.

"No worries, just...Hey, maybe Em and I can help Belle? Em?" he asked. They were all trying desperately to act normal, whatever that was. Belle could tell that she was going to have to do something to get them to talk though. They seemed to be planning the day around everything else.

"Sure, I'm good at the carrying, as long as you don't ask me to cook," she said as they gathered coats and hats, leaving the house scattering a handful of cat treats behind them.

 

Breakfast at Granny's was, if anything, more of a production than the night before. For one thing, more people knew Bae was in town, which meant more of the people he knew from when he lived in Storybrooke. Just after they got into the diner, he was greeted by Fred ('we were in the same class'), Abigail his wife, and the sheriff, Graham Humbart. The last one was a big one for Bae. He and Graham had been good friends back in the day. He promised to stop by the station to catch up before they left town.

"Papa, last night, when you said Regina and the... you didn't mean... not Graham?" he asked quietly when they were finally settled into a booth in the back corner.

"A lot of things have changed, lad," his father told him just as quietly. "Later I'll..."

"Emma, would you like to see the library after breakfast?" Belle asked, seeing an opening. The two men needed time to talk and not just about what happened in town, but she knew that Rum, at least, was very poor at discussing his feelings. Somehow, she doubted his son was any better. It seemed that Emma had some similar thoughts, as she agreed immediately. Of course there was still the issue of Henry and how to handle that. Not that Belle felt she was or should be included, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy, and avoiding the subject wasn't going to make it any better, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a little more. Hope you are enjoying this little journey. With luck there will be more writing time tomorrow. Meanwhile, please do all those things that make writing worthwhile.


	6. Long overdue talk

"Well this is it," Belle said, smiling and holding out her hands to include the entire place. "The Storybrooke Public Library. I'm only opening for the children. Really, everyone is too tied up with holiday plans. It gives the children somewhere to go with school out and besides, some of them are using my conference room to get together homemade gifts or cards, and some of them just want a place to wrap their presents. They enjoy thinking they are getting something over on their parents."

"But you didn't bring me here to show me the library," Emma said cannily. "You think they are talking?"

"I hope so," she said honestly. "Rum's not...He has trouble talking about emotional subjects."

"So it's not just Neal," Emma replied. "Sorry, Bae. It's hard to get used to this whole thing. We had been together for about a year when he told me about his parents. Actually, he didn't tell me the whole thing until after, well, after I was pregnant. Then this woman showed up and..." She shrugged.

"What was she like, Bae's mother?" Belle asked quietly. She never asked Rum about her, and he had told her very little, only that she had left him for another man, and that she had taken their son. Belle had figured some things out for herself, like his caution and his self consciousness about his body. Once, when she had made an off hand comment about why he didn't like to undress in front of her, and how she enjoyed it, he had said something about Milah. She remembered his answer to her response, "Milah never found pleasure in anything about me." That had been more than enough for her to drag him to bed and show him exactly how much she enjoyed him, but overall, she was sure it was too painful to talk about.

"You want to know the truth?" Belle nodded. "I thought she was a selfish manipulative bitch, and that was before she started her 'oh I never meant to let you go,' spiel. She tried to act like she was so concerned and interested in our lives, in what we were doing, but I could tell it was an act. The minute I was out of the room she was after him. 'Are you sure it's yours? Do you really love her? I wouldn't want you to make my mistakes.' Didn't realise how thin the walls of our place were. And don't get me started on that guy she was with, her boyfriend or whatever, I got the idea that had been together for a while."

"That's my understanding. Rum doesn't really talk about them, but he mentioned the man by name, a couple of times. He made him sound like some kind of wannabe pirate."

Emma smiled. "That's right. He swears he's a direct descendant of James Hook. When I called him on it, being a fictional character and all, he told me there was a real person the character was based on. He even had a hook. He said he lost his hand in a rigging accident. Neal always said he suspected that Jones was drunk and did something stupid. Black leather pants, black hair that had to be dyed," Emma described. "He might be cute if he weren't such a..."

"Rum says smarmy bastard," Belle offered.

"Yeah I lean towards slimy asshole myself, but...". The door of the library opened and a blond girl popped her head in, followed by a dark head.

"All clear,' Belle said, coming over to them. "No one here but me and Mrs. Swan. Ava, Nicholas, this is..."

"Mr. Gold's son's wife, we know. Pleased to me you," Ava said politely. Nicholas just nodded. He was a little shy.

"Man, news travels fast," Emma said.

"Yes. Now, did you two finish?" Belle asked.

"We did. Gus unlocked the painting shed and let us paint it in there with real auto paint. Well, he helped us, because of the some of the safety stuff," Ava explained.

"Yeah, there are fumes an' stuff, and you have to wear safety equipment," Nicholas said proudly. Then he pulled off his back pack and, with the help of his sister, took out a big box. Actually it filled the backpack, and probably once held snow boots. They took off the lid and inside was some kind of model of a sports car. "Isn't it great?" Nicholas asked.

After they had shown appropriate appreciation, Belle sent them back to the conference room. "Their father runs the garage in town, the only one, full service, repairs and all. The children found out about this car he really loved before they were born. They put the model together in the conference room, but I couldn't let them use the paint they wanted to. Looks like Gus helped them. He worked for their father, and he's a nice guy," she explained.

"Hmmm, yeah. Looks like they are having as much fun as their dad will. Hey Belle, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, I suppose so," she responded, not certain what she could tell the other woman.

"You know the kids around here pretty well, don't you?"

"I try to make the library a good place for them to go, give them someone to talk to, so I suppose so," Belle answered.

"Is Henry...well, is he happy?"

 

"Come on in, the place has not changed much," Rum said as they entered the shop. He was entirely certain this was a set up to get the two of them to talk, but he didn't even know where to begin.

"I see you still have those two hideous puppets. I remember you bought them from the sale, when Archie's parents died, paid a lot for the ugly things." He picked one of them up. As a child he'd found them creepy, that opinion hadn't changed.

"They are an excellent example of Appalachian primitive art," his father said.

"They're ugly as hell, and we both know you bought them because he needed the money. Is he still around?" Bae asked.

"He came back to town about a year ago. Finished his doctorate in psychology and hung out a shingle, he's an office over the hardware shop," Rum answered. He didn't acknowledge the first part. Archie had been sixteen when his parents died, leaving him mostly bills. He'd had to sell everything just to pay for them and go live with his mother's sister on the other side of Storybrooke. The woman hated her sister and brother in law, she never let Archie forget what she thought of them. The puppets, Archie had told him had been carved by his great great grandfather and Rum always figured that the young man would want to buy them back some day, which was why he'd never sold them, not that he was going to tell anyone that. But then he knew a lot about disappointing families.

"He was a good guy, good listener. I hope his aunt..."

"She died, just before he moved back. Coincidence, I'm sure," he said with a smile, turning the sign and going about his opening ritual, allowing Bae to wander around reacquainting himself with the place where he had spent more than a few afternoons, as a child. By the time Rum had finished putting the till in, his son was in the back room.

"Oh my God, you still have this thing?" Rum went into the back. Bae was holding an old scuffed football. The day his mother had come to pick him up, he'd just come from practice. In fact, Rum had yelled at him for doing dribbling drills inside. When Bae had said goodbye, he'd left the ball in the back room.

"I wanted it to be where ye' left it when ye' came home," he admitted softly, his accent thickening with emotion. "Bae," he started, but his son came to him and put his arm around his father.

"I know Papa. We were both kind of idiots," he said. They stood together for a moment as Rum tried to get his emotions back under control.

"Well, yes. I knew I shouldn't..." Rum stopped. Even after he and Milah had split, he'd always been very careful not to speak ill of her in front of their son.

"Papa, it's okay, you know. We never really talked about what happened. I know what Mama said at the time, but, well, even when you found me, we never said anything. Maybe it's time?"

"Think that is what your wife and Belle have in mind. Unless ye' believe she's really interested in the running of a small town library?"

"Not so much, no. But they are smart women," he said with a smile. "Still have the wheel, I see." He nodded to where the spinning wheel sat in its corner. Rum's grandmother's wheel. His aunts had still spun and taught him to.

"Do you remember how to spin?" Rum asked his son.

"Probably not, I was never very good. But I always loved watching you." The hint was there and anyway, he'd always found it soothing. Rum took off his jacket and sat down, slipping off one shoe for the treadle. "So, Mama, what happened?"

"Between us, or do you mean that last time?" He sighed and found his rhythm. "You know after she walked out, we moved up here. I gave her some money as a settlement, but as for custody..."

"Did she ask?" Bae questioned as he dropped onto his father's work stool.

"She said she wasn't in a good place for that." Rum didn't tell him the rest, that she had never asked for custody, and that he'd had to bring it up to get her that far. "On that we agreed, so you and I moved up here, and for a while..."

"It was good, Papa, for a while. But you were buying up property, busy with making money again. I get it, but it got hard to make friends when your father owns pretty much everything. Then..."

"Cora, yes. You were right about her, lad. She was a heartless gold digger, pun entirely intentional. We were...well, suffice it to say that our relationship didn't survive, but that is neither here nor there. Your mother contacted me. She said she'd decided to settle down and wanted to mend fences. She asked for some money, said she was going to buy a house and start being a mum to you. At first, I was reluctant, but when you found out we were talking, you seemed happy." He paused to add some more roving to feed into the wheel.

"I was happy because I thought...I never wanted you and Mama back together, but I thought, honestly, I thought Cora would resent the competition and you would see her for what she was," the young man said.

"Perhaps. When Milah said she wanted you to visit, I was reluctant. I was worried about her not showin' up and disappointing you," he said quietly. For a moment it was only the creak of the wheel.

"Mom's told me you didn't want me anymore," Bae said finally. "She said...well, I saw you giving her money. I know you thought I didn't, but she saw me looking out the door." They both looked at the back door of the shop. "She told me you gave it to her to take care of me, so you wouldn't have to anymore. I was angry enough to believe her, especially when you didn't come for me. I told myself that story even after she left me. It wasn't until a long time later that I started thinking about it logically. I kept thinking if you wanted me, you wouldn't have let them adopt me and change my name."

"I tried, lad, I tried so hard. I followed every lead, hired investigators. Actually eventually it is how I found you. A lot of records are on the computer now. One of the investigators did a lot of searches, here, back home, even in Ireland, in case Jones went home. Then they started on all of Jones' aliases. One of them was KJ Cassidy. It's his mother's maiden name apparently. That's where they got the name. They needed something, probably a scam of some sort, but they needed those papers, and they went into a data base. Even then it wasn't easy, there are a bloody ridiculous number of Cassidy's, in this country alone." He fell silent again. Bae rose and put a hand on his father's arm. The reassurance was there.

"It's okay, Papa. I'm just sorry, you know, that it's taken all this, and now with..."

"With Henry, yes. Bae, why didn't you call me? I'd have..."

"My immediate answer is I'm an idiot. Yes, by then I had more or less figured out Mama had lied. Then when she and Killian came, she slipped up a little, said something about getting me away from you. I didn't pursue it at the time, I was focusing on Emma, and well, I was determined I was going to do the right thing on my own. I think I wanted to prove something, to myself and to you. Like I said, idiot."

"Nah, lad, just your father's son. When Milah told me she was up the spout, your grandfather turned up in town. I was on hols from Uni, workin' to pay for everything. The auld bastard suggested I get rid of her. Told me how his life had started going to shite when mum turned up pregnant. I was determined to prove something to him as well. I just wish I'd known. but the question is, what do ye' want to do now?"

Bae stood and thought for a moment. The wheel slowed to a stop as Rum stopped spinning. But before he could answer his father, the familiar jingle of the bell sounded. "Customers," his father said, standing and heading for the front of the shop.

 

Belle thought about it for a moment. Henry was a good boy, bright, imaginative, creative, and very very smart, but he had few friends. Some of that was his mother. A lot of people didn't like Regina and some of those weren't keen on their children being friends with her son. Mary Margaret, one of Belle's close friends, was his teacher, and she had mentioned the same thing. He related better to adults because he didn't get a lot of chance to be with children. "I don't think he's precisely _unhappy_ ," Belle said carefully. "But it's awkward. His mo...his adopted mother," she amended.

"It's okay. She's raised him. I don't think I have a lot of claim to the title. It's just...well, when he contacted us, we weren't sure what to do. We had really been planning to try to come up, and with Neal's mother's death...To be honest, it seemed an awkward thing to say over the phone. Then I got the email. When Neal saw he was in Storybrooke, it just seemed perfect. Of course, then he saw the name Mills and flipped out a little. He thought it was the older one, somehow, Cora. Anyway, then we had to come. He had to see whether we had really screwed up."

"No. Cora has been gone for years. I don't really remember her. I think she left just after Mayor Mills, that would be the old mayor, Regina's father, died. He had some kind of heart attack. As to Henry." She sighted. "I think he's lonely. Regina, I suppose she tries, but you've seen her. She's not really the get down on the carpet and play sort. I don't really think she knows how to relate to him."

Emma thought about that as Belle went to help a large man called Dove, she recalled Gold mentioning him, and from Neal, she knew he worked for his father, find a gardening book and admired two cards and a handmade napkin holder. She was really good with kids, Emma thought.

"I'm sorry I wasn't much help," Belle said.

"No, you've given me a lot to think about. Do you think it's safe to go see how they are doing?" she asked.

"Probably, and you have my permission to bash them together if they've not cleared the air between them."

"Sure thing, I can handle that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for yesterday, here is a long one. Okay, truth is, I couldn't find a way to break it, and I'm pretty much snowed in anyway. Enjoy, review, all those happy things.


	7. Curiousity

The 'customers' turned out to be more curious about Bae than interested in actually buying anything, all except Thomas, who was picking up the watch that Rum had spent most of the last night mending. He was a good ten years younger than Bae and, consequently, had not actually known he existed. But David Nolan had stood at the counter catching up with him until Emma came in.

"How was the libarary?" Bae asked.

"Good," she said, coming to stand next to him.

"Emma, this is David...is it still Spencer?" he asked.

"Nope, back to Nolan, you know he and I never got along, still don't, so once Mom died, I got it changed back. I never wanted to be adopted anyway, and James was always his favourite. Your father did the filing, didn't charge me too much." David paused, looking at the curtain. "I think it was because they were feuding again," he said quietly.

"David's stepfather is the country prosecutor," Bae explained. "Also, except for Judge Herman, and Judge Midas, who is probably retired by now, he's Abigail's father, the only other practising attorney in town. What about James?" He'd never been a friend of David's hell raising twin brother, but still it was polite to ask.

"Oh, you didn't know," David said. "About six years back, he was driving his car, this red sports car that Spencer got him for his birthday. He wrapped it around the town sign. He had been drinking, what else is new, when wasn't he?"

"Oh, man, I'm sorry. Is he..." He didn't really know what to say. David and James had been as different as it was possible for a pair of identical twins.

"They call it a 'persistent vegetative state'. He's over at Storybrooke General in the long term care ward. I go visit occasionally, for Mom. You remember Jack?"

"Jack, you mean Jacqueline Lightfoot, played on the soccer team with us?"

"That's her. She was in the car with him. The two of them had been on again, off again since high school. Anyway, she didn't make it." They fell silent for a moment. "Hey, I'm sorry, Emma, here we are talking about people you don't know," David said.

"It's okay," she said. Actually she was finding it fascinating. She was a child of the foster system. Bae had spent some time in as well, but she had never thought much about what his life had been before that. When they had first gotten together, she had assumed he was like her. It did make her pretty angry with a dead woman, though, the one who had taken him away from what seemed like a good home, certainly better than many of the ones Emma had, just to get back at her ex. After agreeing to try to get together sometime before they went home, he left.

"Can I assume I get my shop back now?" his father said, coming back into the front of the shop, though it had no particular sting to it.

"Depends," Emma said. "Have you two said what you need to say, because I promised Belle I'd knock your heads together if you hadn't." Bae smiled, but Gold gave her a dubious look, as if he didn't think she would or maybe could.

"It's all good, Em," Bae said, putting an arm around her. "We may not have said everything we need to but..."

"But you've no need for violence. Belle usually brings lunch across on Friday, if you wish to explore or catch up with people before hand. Though we still do need to discuss the situation."

"We don't even know what the situation _is_ ," Emma told them. "Just because he wanted to meet us, doesn't mean he wants us in his life. Maybe he was just curious, or maybe...ah hell, I don't know. Maybe he did it on a whim or because he was pissed at his... at that Regina person. She looks like pissing people off is what she does as a hobby. How the hell do I know? What I know about her besides the little Bae and Belle have said, is that she didn't exactly make a good first impression."

"Well, you'll not like the second much better," Gold said. "But I will say, Henry's a bright lad. If he went to the trouble, he's a reason. Now, I've got work to do."

 

They returned in time for lunch, Bae having given Emma the quick tour. It was not as if there was a whole lot of town to see. Belle had brought soup and a loaf of bread that she'd picked up, and they ate in the back. When they finished, Gold asked if they would stay at the shop while he walked Belle back. "Wow, first the caddie, now the shop," Bae had teased his father, but he couldn't help but smile.

"So, this shop, I mean, it looks like a lot of junk to me," Emma said after they had left.

"Looks is right, a lot of this 'junk' is actually pretty valuable. I mean, the shop's always been more hobby than anything else. Papa makes most of his income from property, and he does the odd bit of legal work, just to keep his hand in."

"How much property does he own? I mean, he wears expensive suits, he's clearly not hurting, and Regina made that crack but..."

"All of it," Bae said. "Well, okay, not all, just most of it."

"All of..."

"Storybrooke."

"All..."

"Pretty much. The shops mostly rent form him and almost all the residential stuff that's not in private hands. I know he owns the building the library is in and..."

"So you are saying that your father is..."

"Loaded? Richest man in town, possibly the state? Pretty much," Bae told her.

"I was going to say everyone's landlord. No wonder he's not popular," she finished.

"That too. He's also..." The shop bell rang, interupting further comment. A large, florid faced man came in, a sour look on his face.

"Where's Gold?" he demanded. The Australian accent made it clear who this was. After all, how many Aussies could there be in a small town in Maine.

"He's just stepped out for a minute," Bae said. His father had told him something about the relationship, that it was difficult at best. From the look of him, his father had been understating the case.

"Well you tell him..."

"Tell me what, French?" Gold said from behind him, causing everyone to jump. Sometimes he could be ridiculously quiet for a man with a cane.

"I came to tell you..." He looked at the young couple.

"Bae, Emma, why don't you go on and let Mr. French and I speak.' Bae didn't like the look of the man.

"We'll be in the back, Papa," he said, guiding Emma through the curtain.

"I thought we were going to go..." Emma started, but he put a finger to his lips.

"Eavesdropping, Cassidy, really?" she whispered.

"Don't like the way he's looking at Papa," he said. From the front, raised voices could be heard clearly, or rather, one raised voice.

"I don't now what you have on her, but there..."

"This will come as a great surprise to you, French, but Belle makes her own decisions. She knows nothing of our business dealings, and I have no intention of telling her, not because I care a thing about your position, but because I will not have your debt come between us. It is only my love for her that has prevented me form tossing you out into the gutter where ye' belong. I'd remember that, were I you, the next time you come and try to..."

"Why you..." the man roared. Bae was through the curtain in seconds with Emma on his heels, as something crashed to the floor. The big man had charged as Gold, who, while burdened as he was with a bad leg, had still managed to dodge and now, propped against the counter, had raised his cane to strike.

"Papa, no," Bae said hurrying forward to grab the big man. He might have fifty pounds on the younger man, but, like his father, Bae was pretty light on his feet. "Mr French, I think you need to go before I call the sheriff."

"This isn't over, Gold," Moe French growled, shaking off Bae's hand.

"About that you are right."

"Want to tell me what that was, Papa?" Bae said, having seen the other man out.

"That was Belle's father," he said.

"Yeah, we got that part, what about the rest?" Emma asked.

"Long before Belle and I started seeing one another, we did some business together," Gold told them.

"He owes you money," Emma translated. "And he thinks taking a swing at you will help?"

"Not the first time, but no. He's very unhappy with our relationship, though. He wants her dating the man he picked out for her. In addition, he is terrified I will tell Belle about his debt, which I have no intention of doing."

Bae and Emma, having assured themselves that he was unhurt and not about to do anything else dangerous at the moment, were about to leave when Henry Mills came through the shop door.

"I had to sneak out, I'm kind of grounded," he explained. "I haven't figured out how to explain all this to my mom. So, if you are my mom," he asked, looking at Emma, while they were all still trying to figure out what to say. "Does that make you my father, or, like, my step father?"

"Nope, kid, it looks like I'm your father," Bae told him. What else was there to say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. A little update. I am hoping to get this finished soon, but it's taking it's time. I hope you like what i have done with our favourite Storybrooke characters (and some whe love to hate). You know what to do...


	8. The Naming of things

"Wow," Henry said. "That's cool! I mean, when I went looking for my mom, I never expected to find, well a whole set of parents. I guess..." He paused, for the first time seeming a little uncertain. "You know, I thought since you..."

"Listen, kid," Emma said quietly. "Neal...Bae and me, we were in a, well, a bad place when you were born. It was not a quick or easy decision, and it's a very long story. Maybe we can tell it to you later. But right now, the question is what do _you_ want?" Gold was impressed. His daughter in law cut right to the heart of the issue.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked her.

"She wants to know what it was that made you decide to look us up," Bae said. "Why now? I mean, if you wanted to get to know who your parents are, that's great. Honestly, I'm kind of glad you did get in touch with us. But if you are doing it because you are mad at Regina, trust me, that's not a good plan. Fighting with your parents can backfire in really bad ways. What I am trying to say is that I want to get to know you, I really do, but I also know a lot about parent troubles," he finished, looking at Gold where he stood behind the counter.

"No. I mean, yes, I'm kind of mad at my mom right now, but that's a whole different thing, nothing to do with you," Henry told him. "I just...we were studying History, and Miss Blanchard, well, Mrs. Nolan now, she wanted us to do a family tree and find out where we came from, and I didn't know anything. Then I thought I might like to. I looked it up on the internet, and they talked about all these different reasons that people...well, about how sometimes they do it because they feel like they have too, and sometimes they want to get in touch. It...I suppose I didn't think to closely about it at the time, it just seemed like a good idea. I just wanted to get in touch, maybe see if you wanted to meet me," he admitted, a little self consciously.

"It's okay, kid, we wanted to meet you too," Emma told him. "We've talked about it a lot and..." Instantly he reached out and hugged her. She stood startled at that, but she put a hand on his head and patted him awkwardly.

After a few minutes, Henry let go and looked at both his parents. "So, since you are my dad, that means..." He paused and looked at the other occupant of the room. "That means you are my grandfather?" he asked, as if not quite sure that could possibly be true.

"Am, yes, lad," the pawnbroker agreed softly. If he had been told that his reunion with his son would involve finding that, not only did he have a grandson, that he had more or less expected at some point, but that he had, himself, filed the papers that have given that grandchild to a woman who hated him, he'd have told the speaker they might want to book an appointment with Archie Hopper, immediately if not sooner. He had always been rather fond of the lad, who reminded him so very much of Bae, but he had never even suspected. Why would he? "Are you okay with that?" There was a part of him that was waiting for the rejection. After all, he was the town monster. Besides, Regina wasn't exactly subtle about her dislike for him and Gold wasn't entirely sure what she had said in front of the boy.

"Yeah, I am," Henry said with a smile. "I've never had a grandfather before, so it's going to take some getting used to. Of course, I've never had birth parents before either."

"I've not been one before, and I didn't know my own grandparents at all, so it'll be a bit of learning for both of us." Honestly, he was a bit overwhelmed. His family had not been particularly close, the opposite in fact. His mother had died when he was a small child, and her parents had been long dead. Malcolm Gold was a drunk and a grifter, might still be, if the old bastard was still alive. The aunts who had raised him were as close to family as he'd had before he met and married Milah, and they had died while he was at school.

"Now, I just have to figure out how to tell my mom, my other mom that is," Henry said.

 

Henry had left, insisting on hugging them all before he left, a bit awkward, especially with his new found grandfather, who was a man he'd known all his life. He had said he needed to get back before Regina came home to check on him. While they had not come up with any good answers to his questions, they had all agreed that her discovering him missing was not going to make it better, or easier.

"Well, the first thing, kid, are you sure you want to? I mean, you've met us, and I'm sure that you have got a ton of questions, which we are the only ones who can answer. But...well, that doesn't necessarily mean..."

"Don't you want me to..." Henry started a little quietly, as if he'd never thought that they would want anything less than some kind of connection. After all, they _had_ come to meet him.

"What Em is saying is that we _want_ to get to know you, and, well, figure out where we go from there, but are you sure _you_ really want to tell Regina before you know if you even like us?" Bae asked him. "We could be really awful people." As much as he wanted to get to know the boy they had given up, especially as difficult as the decision to do it had been on both of them, he didn't want to make the kid's life difficult, well, more difficult than having Regina for a mother was bound to make it.

"Oh, I'm sure. I mean I've known...sorry, I don't really know what to call you. Mr. Gold seems kind of weird, now...Even though I've known you all my life." Gold looked startled. He'd never gotten that far in the midst of his burst of his all too familiar self doubt and blame to think about the practicalities. He had a grandson. He had a grandson in Storybrooke. Of course, if Henry decided he didn't want a relationship with his parents, it was going to hurt. Somehow he couldn't imagine it happening. It also meant that Bae and Emma would want to come and visit. Perhaps he and Belle could take the boy to visit them in New York? Still, before he got ahead of himself, there was the small, or not so small, case of Regina, both telling her and dealing with the aftermath. But one crisis at a time.

"What do you say, Papa?" Bae smiled at him. "It's going to happen sometime, might as will figure it out now."

"Grandpa?" Henry asked, trying it out himself, to see how it felt. Gold looked at the boy. He was so very hopeful.

"It'll do, lad," he said finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I say, this has gotten way away from me. Originally it was just a story about Bae meeting Belle...well, we can see what happened to that. But I think I have a handle on it. So, if you like where we are going, please do that thing you do...


	9. Preparations

There was only a little while left before Bae and Emma were supposed to help Belle with the groceries and most of the time was spent with the three of them each lost in their individual thoughts. At his father's request Bae had gone into the back and started winding the finished yarn on the niddy noddy. It had been years, but he found he'd not lost the knack. It was something he'd enjoyed doing when he was young, particularly because it allowed him to participate in his father's...well, he supposed it was a hobby. But it had always been more than that really. It had been where he found peace, and got away from making money, and his wife's demands and insults. Bae had always known his parents weren't happy, for all that his father had tried to hide it. This trip was bringing up a lot more than he'd expected, good and bad. 

"What are you doing?" Emma asked, coming into the back. She'd been looking through the things in the front of the shop, and probably doing much the same as him. 

"Skeining yarn," he told her, before explaining a little about the wheel. It also allowed them to avoid the ten year old elephant in the room for a little while. 

While they were talking, the front bell had rung a couple of times, and, finally, the sound of Gold's cane and Belle's cheerful voice drifted through the curtain. 

"Hey Belle, ready to go?" Bae asked. An adult he might be, but Emma could tell he was ridiculously pleased with his father letting him drive his precious Cadillac. His wife was only a little surprised he hadn't found some excuse to do it before, but they had been a little distracted. Besides, it wasn't like, living as they did in New York, he got much chance to drive. They mostly kept the Bug for sentimental reasons. 

"Rum was telling me about your visitor. How did it go?" she asked. Emma decided she could get to like the librarian. When Bae had told her his father was dating, and a woman closer to their age, she had been, well, concerned wasn't the right word, but she had definitely been wary, especially after what Bae had said about his past relationships. Bae had been outright worried though he tried to hide it, but now, having met her, she knew they were both reassured. 

"It's still early, but I really think he's a great kid. There are still decisions to make." Belle nodded. "Met some other interesting people too. Your father...". Emma started just as she caught the look on her father in law's (that was taking getting used to) face. The look that said clearly he had not been planning on telling her, or not now, she didn't know which. Still, she decided it was a good time to stop talking. 

"Oh no, not again. What did he want this time?" Belle asked. Clearly she wasn't entirely as unaware as he would like her to be. 

"'T'was nothing, sweetheart," Gold said, trying to calm her. Honestly, to Emma, she looked more dismayed and angry than surprised. "You know he is upset about the holidays."

"Well, he can bloody well deal with it," she said sharply. "It's his own fault anyway. He is more than welcome to come to dinner, at your house, by himself, and if he can be pleasant. I will not have him ruining another Christmas, nor will I endure Gaston's presence. He'd be liable to break something or several somethings, possibly intentionally." 

"Gaston?" Bae asked, as if the name was at least familiar. "Gaston...big kid, at least he was, good as sports as long as it wasn't team related, dumb as a stump? What's he got to do with anything?"

"That's him. My father has been trying to convince me that we would make a perfect couple," she said with frustration. 

Bae laughed. "A couple of what? No, seriously," he said. "A librarian and a guy who failed fourth grade at least once, and who, at least when I was a kid, never cracked a book? You can't be serious." He looked at them. Neither of them were laughing. 

"He probably hasn't read a book since you knew him, either. It is all so terribly ridiculous," Belle told him. 

"It's all right, sweetheart. Nothing happened. Now, you had all best get going, and let me get some work done. Bae, you can come back and pick me up at seven." As he was saying it, Gold reaching into his pocket and pulled out his keys. 

"I'll take good care of her, Papa," Bae told him. "Ladies, your chariot awaits." He gestured towards the door with a bow.

"Kind sir," Belle replied with a smile and a curtesy. 

 

The three of them drove to the grocery, even though it was only a couple of blocks away. "No point in my having to come back and get it," he said with a shrug. 

"You are so full of it, Cassidy," Emma said fondly. "You just want to drive this overgrown land yacht."

At the store Belle set out methodically, looking at her lists. "Bae, do you remember where the sugar and the flour are?" she asked, giving him his marching orders. 

"I'll manage the cart," Emma said, following her. 

"I forgot to ask if there is anything you or Bae doesn't eat," Belle said, suddenly dismayed. 

"I eat anything," Emma reassured her. "Considering the junk I eat every day, anything you cook will be fine, an improvement even, and he eats anything that doesn't eat him first."

"Oh, good." Belle brightened considerably and led her to the back of the store to the meat counter. "Mr. Guiliani," she greeted the man behind the case.

"Ah, Miss Belle. You are here for that goose, and a very fine bird, it is too." The owner greeted her with a friendly smile. 

"I am, I just hope it's enough."

"Ah, I hear you are having extra guests, so just in case, I found you a slightly larger bird. Put it aside this morning." He winked merrily. "This lady, she must be young Bae's beautiful wife, yes?" The old man was large, white haired and friendly, with a voice that still held the hint of an Italian accent. He reminded Emma a bit of a restaurant owner she knew down in Little Italy. 

"Well, I'm Bae's wife, yes. Please to meet you. Wow, does anyone not know who we are?"

"Not many, maybe Mal, but she's a bit of a recluse," Graham said, coming up beside them. "Perils of a small town. Picking up for Christmas?" He looked at the large bird the grocer was handing over. 

"We are. I'm doing an old fashioned goose this year," Belle told him. 

"Goose?" the sheriff said perhaps a bit wistfully. "I've only had it once, when my Nana was still alive, before we moved here." 

"Here you go, Belle," Bae said, putting the bags in the cart. "Hey Graham, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Oh, the usual, got to do a bit of patrolling," the man said with a shrug. "Have to make sure that some of the citizens of Storybrooke don't over indulge in Christmas cheer and try to drive." 

Bae looked at Belle, but she was already reading between the lines, and before they left loaded down with groceries, they had extracted a promise from the sheriff to come for dinner at least. "Come on, man, you have to eat, Storybrooke can look after itself for that long." 

In the car, Bae thanked her. "He and I used to be good friends, and I hate the idea of him being alone. I just hope Papa doesn't mind."

"He won't, truthfully, he's fond of Graham, though he won't say it. Might ruin his reputation."

"Yes, it wouldn't do for people to know the town monster had a heart," Bae commented with a hint of disappointment. "I suppose he is still intimidating everyone?" 

"I think he gave up trying anything else a long time ago. But I'm trying," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope that all of you are still enjoying this despite the lateness. If you like what I'm doing where, please do that thing you do that keeps my muse happy.


	10. Cats in the Cradle

It was late and Bae and his father were sitting before the fire in the living room. Dinner had been nice, a quick throw together. It was only afterward that things got a little awkward. Emma and Bae had volunteered to do the clean up. 'I may not be able to cook, but I'm good at dishes.' With those words they had set to clearing the table.

'Rum, we had best get the little ones. I should get home,' Belle had told him quietly.

'What, Belle, but I thought...' Then he'd looked at Bae and his wife. When Bae had been young, obviously he'd been discreet, or tried, and last night they had all been too distracted to think about it too closely. Bae seemed to like Belle, or so he said, but well, there was a difference between being all right with their relationship and accepting the two of them sleeping together under the same roof. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he felt about his son knowing that much about his personal life. Bae was married, and Rum wasn't entirely sure how he felt about his son and Emma sleeping together under his roof, even though he knew it was an irrational response.

'What's up?' Bae had asked, coming up to them.

'Belle was just talking about getting home,' Rum had said. It was all he could think of, see how the lad reacted.

'Why?' the young man asked. 'Or do you mean because of us?' Belle had looked at him a little uncomfortably. 'Belle, don't go just because...I'm not a kid anymore. It's really none of my business.'

'Are you..." she started, biting her lip in that way she did when she was nervous.

'It's fine, Belle,' Bae had reassured her. Now both she and Emma had turned in, leaving the two of them in the lounge, sipping scotch.

"You really are okay with Belle staying, I mean..."

"Papa, I'm not ten anymore. You don't have to worry about the example you set. Besides, it's not like it's any of my business. In fact, I'd rather not think about it too much. Come on, Papa, she has a key and she didn't bring an overnight bag, so clearly this isn't the first time she's stayed over."

"I just..."

"It's cool, Papa. I genuinely like her. Is it serious?"

"I was thinking of asking her to move in on a permanent basis," his father admitted. "I've considered..." He paused. He'd never actually said it out loud before.

"What? Marriage?" Bae asked. His father nodded. "That's great, Papa. I mean, I've never seen you this happy, not ever."

"It's still just a thought. I mean, you saw her father, the man hates me. I don't want to make things more difficult. Besides, I was no great shakes as a husband the first time. Then there's the age difference. It's still just an idea anyway..."

"Papa," Bae started.

"Then there is the way that everyone..."

"Papa," he said again, more urgently, putting his hand on the older man's arm. "Those are all excuses, not reasons. Do you love her?"

"Aye, of course I do. Do ye think I'd even be considering it otherwise?"

"Then you should. Seriously. I know you and Mama didn't marry because..."

"Now Bae, it's not quite that. I...all right, I'll not deny that we married when we did because she was pregnant. But we'd already considered it. I loved her, or I thought I did, and I thought she loved me." There was a lot that wasn't said there. "But, well, once we were married, I had to work harder, and the harder I worked, the less time I had for her. But I had a family to support, and I didn't want to be like my father," he admitted.

"Yeah, speaking of, how is the old reprobate? I mean, you would tell me if he'd died I assume," his son asked.

"You assume I'd know. I've neither seen nor heard from him in years," Rum told him.

"Never did forgive him, did you?" Bae asked with a trace of a smile. It had been not terribly long after they had moved to the States. He'd been five at the time and none too familiar with his grandfather when the old man had turned up.

Bae had never been sure how it happened, though he knew for certain that, had his father been home, it never would have. He'd been woken from his nap by his grandfather. "Come along, lad. We're off for a bit of fun," the old man had said. It turned out that his grandfather's idea of fun was taking him to a seedy pub and using him as a distraction to cage drinks and hustle cards. By the time his papa had shown up, Malcolm was throughly drunk, and Bae had been getting just a little nervous about how to get them home.

It was also the only fight between his parents he ever remembered that had been started by his father. He didn't think he'd ever seen his papa that angry. The moment they were back home, his father had sent him off to his room, but despite best efforts on the part of his parents (or at least his father), he'd heard the yelling for a long while. Later, he remembered his papa bringing a tray to his room with food. He'd had a red mark on one side of his face, and they had stayed together, his father reading him several stories and falling asleep in the other bed. The next day, his grandfather was gone and there was a nanny.

"If ye can't be responsible, then we'll hire someone who can," he remembered his father saying when he didn't think the boy was listening.

"How could I ever forgive him? Besides, I told him to get on his bike that night. I gave him some money and told him not to come back. Your mother was appalled as well, though she should have known better. T'is not like she didn't know his reputation. I worked bloody hard to get away from that reputation," he said, looking at the fire. "Perhaps I worked too hard. I wish...I wish I was a better father to you, Bae."

"You were a good father, Papa. Or at least you tried. But you got so caught up in your work and..."

"And I was a ruthless bastard?" the older man suggested with a smile that held very little humour. "I kept thinking if I could make a bit more money, one more deal, then..."

"Then Mama would be happy? Papa, that was never going to happen. We both know that. Come on. I'm an adult now, and we both know the truth. Mama wasn't ever happy, at least not...Can I ask now?" His son nodded towards where he'd stretched out his bad leg. "You never said, and when I asked, Mama, well..." He paused. He didn't want to cause his father any undue pain. His mother had not been particularly pleasant, she'd called him just about every name in the book and said it was his own fault.

"I'm certain she said many things and called me everything she could think of. Coward was her favourite," he said with a wry smile. "Suppose...Best get us some refills if we're to get this all out in the air."

Bae returned with two full glasses. His father had never been much of a drinker, wine at dinner, the odd scotch or brandy to dull the pain in his leg, but no more, and nothing stronger than an aspirin for the pain. Probably it was because of his grandfather. But clearly this was one of those conversations.

"How much do ye remember of Scotland?" his father asked, accepting the glass.

"Not a lot," Bae admitted. "The house with the little brick walled back garden, you taking me to my first football match, Celtic vs Rangers, carrying me down the shops to pick up some milk." As he remembered just a hint of his accent returned. "I remember you being hurt and in hospital, actually a lot of what I remember is you being home recovering. You slept on that settee in the front parlour because you couldn't manage the stairs."

"Aye, those steep stairs. Should have been there when we were movin' the furniture up 'em," he said with a smile. "Well, ye know I went to uni on scholarship and then I came home to Glasgow just after you were born. I had the house from my aunts and we settled down to what I thought was going to be a good life. I was working for a couple of shipping and import companies down the docks, making sure all their contracts were done properly, that sort of thing. I'd worked the docks summers and hols through school, I knew a lot of the people, even did some contract work for one of the unions, but that's not important. One day a couple of men came round the office, they tell me one of me clients is involved in some shady dealings and do I want to be implicated or do I want to cooperate." He stopped and took a drink, staring at the fire.

"Papa?" Bae asked. For the first time he was wondering if this was such a good idea.

"I remember most how bloody cold it was that winter. I've not always done things I'm proud of, lad. I was in a bit of trouble as a lad, not as most in our neighbourhood weren't, but I never got done. It was nothing serious for the most part, taking without permission, a bit o' drinkin', smoked me share of dodgy fags, and maybe if some of the blokes on the docks were movin' things without the right papers, well, nothing new there." He shrugged.

"Really, Papa? You?" Bae said with only the slightest surprise. He had always known the kind of neighbourhood his father came from. The man had always warned him about not making the same mistakes he'd made. Instead, Bae knew, he'd made his own.

"Anyway, I'm no grass. I told them I knew nothing about it, that I was strictly contracts and legal work. I thought at worst, they were moving some dodgy goods, some cases of illegal booze, maybe fags, just avoiding the tax man. As long as I didn't see it, it wasn't my business. But that visit got me curious. I looked around, maybe in places I shouldn't. Found one of my clients was involved with some very shady blokes, organised crime types. At that, I decided I didn't need to know more. I had a family to worry about. Mate of mine was the one I worked with directly, Vice President of the company. I went and told him what I knew and that, while I wasn't going to grass 'em up, I couldn't work for 'em anymore. Told him how little I knew and that I wasn't goin' to look any deeper. He seemed to understand, we'd known each other since we were at school."

"Jesus, Papa," his son said sharply, gulping his drink. "You're lucky to be alive. So how..." He looked down.

"His 'associates' didn't believe him. They grabbed me one night on the way home, winter it was. After that, well, it's a bit of a blur." There was no way he was going to tell Bae about that, the beating, the sledge as it came down, the pain. He would remember the sound 'til the end of his days. "Your mother felt I ought to have tried to get cut in, rather than out, either that or had the good form to die and let her collect the insurance. Besides that, she could never bear the scars. She said they were a sign of weakness."

"What happened to the guys that did it? I mean, did the cops catch them?" Bae asked.

"Oh, they got what they had coming to them right enough, and I spent my recovery looking for another place. New York was the logical choice, I had contacts, it was easy enough for a man with experience in trade law to get a job. So here we came." There was a hint in what he said of the ruthless businessman he new his father could be, and Bae decided that he didn't want to ask anymore.

He'd learned enough for one night. His father seemed to agree, he was reaching for his cane. "Thanks Papa," he said, as he handed him the stick. "And I mean it, Papa, you and Belle, it's all good. Well, as long as...."

"You don't enter our room without ye' knock first and I'll do the same. It's all either of us need or want to know. Goodnight, son," he said. Bae reached out and gave his father a hug. This time the older man didn't flinch.

"Goodnight, Papa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by the fact that as I was sitting to write, Harry Chapin's 'Cat's in the Cradle' came up on my iPod. For those of you too young, it is a song about a father and son, and the distance that can happen between them. It just seemed the right time to have some serious father/son talking.


	11. Past presents

Rum made his way downstairs in the morning, surprised by the smell of frying bacon. Specifically, he knew Belle was in the shower, so he wanted to know who was frying bacon. He had not slept easily, having the first nightmare about the accident in years. Of course, since he'd been woken by Belle, it had been a vast improvement, as had her method of getting him back to sleep.

Downstairs, he discovered that someone had turned on the Christmas tree lights. He was positive he'd put them out last night. For a brief moment, he looked at the tree. It was the first tree he'd had since at least the year after Bae had disappeared. But with the plan to have Belle had come actual decoration, though still minimal.

In the kitchen, he found his son wielding a spatula over a pan of bacon. Emma was sitting at the counter with a mug of coffee that must have been made in the ancient percolator that had been unearthed from who knew where. "Hey Papa. Tea?" he asked.

"I'll get it," his father told him. "What are you doing, dearie?"

"You and Belle have been taking care of us, so we thought we would return the favour."

"No we about it," Emma said. "I'm not competent to operate a coffee pot, especially not that dinosaur."

"Breakfast is just about all i can cook. Remember Papa?"

"Aye, I do," the man said with a smile. He could not forget half cooked, half burnt eggs, incinerated bacon, and stewed tea brought up to his bedroom on Father's Day on a tray that was none too steady, and he knew he would eat every bite without a complaint and apologise to Belle later. He planned to open the shop for half the day, but it didn't mean things could not easily be changed to include them.

"Meorow!" An imperious command came from the floor level.

"Hey, kid, you wait like everyone else," Bae teased, putting the bacon on some towels to drain. Another, slightly higher, interrogative comment from the floor alerted Rum to where the two miscreants were. He should have known.

"Rum, what are..." Belle started, coming into the kitchen, only to stop when she saw the son rather than the father in front of the stove. "Oh, I..."

"Thought Papa was operating dangerous equipment without sufficient caffeine?" Bae suggested.

"Something like that," she agreed as she allowed herself to be encouraged into a seat next to Rum.

Breakfast was surprisingly good (well, surprising to Rum, anyway) and there was very little in the way of talking, since none of them were particularly morning people. The only sounds besides eating and drinking were the occasional comment from the floor, where the two cats were getting fed bits and pieces from everyone, while they all pretended that they weren't and that they didn't see anyone else. Emma wandered out and returned with two papers, one the late edition of the _Boston Globe_ , that Gold paid extra for, the other the _Storybrooke Mirror_.

"Wow, I haven't sene this in a while," Bae said, reaching for the _Mirror_ , only to find himself on the front page, with a picture of he and Emma, clearly taken from a distance, in front of the pawnshop, and the headline 'Gold-en Boy, the prodigal son returns.' "What the ..." he said, dropping it.

Gold picked up the paper with a thunderous look. "I'll have him this time," he swore. "Bloody sneaking..."

"Rum," Belle said softly.

"Really, Belle, he's gone too far this time."

"Who?" Emma asked, picking up the paper and looking at the picture in disgust. "We look like we're casing the place," she commented. "Isn't there something about having to ask before you publish someone's picture?"

"There is, yes," Gold said. "And this time he has crossed the line."

"Who, Papa? I'm going to take a wild swing and say that Mr. Blanchard isn't running it anymore."

"No, Leo Blanchard died years ago. There was a lot of speculation at the time, he and Regina were, I believe the expression is 'an item' at the time."

"Regina? Mary Margaret is my age, though," Bae said. "Mr Blanchard was what, at least ten years older than you are? No, it's got to be more. I remember he was one of the older fathers."

"Oh, I suspect Cora was behind it. After all, Leo was the second richest man in town, and Cora liked money almost as much as she liked power.  She left town shortly after.  Anyway, he left the paper to Regina, the half he didn't leave to his protégée, Sidney Glass."

"Sidney? I think I remember him but I didn't know him. He was older than I was, kind of ferrety?" Bae asked.

"That's the one, yes. I advised Leo against changing his will, but he was always a trusting sort. But the paper has become nothing but a gossip rag, except for its truly revoltingly gushing reports on her highness the mayor. Glass is madly in love with her, and she uses that to her advantage. I would bet she is behind the story."

"So why do you take it, if it's so bad?" Emma aske.d.

"Oh, for the paper," he told her with a smile. "It's excellent for polishing silver and cleaning windows. Not to mention this time of year, it makes decent fire starter."

 

"Now, the question is, what are your plans for the day?" Gold asked after they had finished. "I am opening the shop for at least part of the day, the two of you are free to do whatever you wish of course."

"I am going to be baking," Belle said. "I promised more cookies for the hospital. My kitchen really isn't up to much."

"It's my evil plot to keep some of those for meself," Rum said.

"I think we'll stay around the house for a little while."

"Hope that Henry sneaks out again?" his father asked. "You've still to decide what you want to do about the situation. Of course, if you want, we can legally take him away from Regina." The look on his face was once again the ruthless businessman that most of the town feared. "The adoption was not legal without the father's name, his legal name, signing over his rights. I could challenge it on the basis of that alone. It's a technicality, but..."

"You wouldn't, Papa, would you?" Bae asked.

"I'm not keen on Regina raising my grandson, but no, I'd not. Unless it becomes necessary. Still, we have it as an option should she decide to be difficult, which I would count on, were I you. She'll also be well aware of one thing, though it might take a little reminder."

"What's that?" Emma asked. She wasn't sure what to make of this new side of the father in law she had barely met.

"That adoption agreement is as close to airtight as legally possible. The only person who could find a way to break it is the one who drew it up. Me."

 

Things were quiet for the rest of the meal, as they all lost themselves in their thoughts while pretending to read the papers. Bae, who was still reading the _Mirror_ , occasionally interrupted with a question or a comment on someone he'd know. Finally, Rum rose, thanked them for breakfast, and went on to open the shop.

When Belle came back in from seeing him off (having decided that she would rather give him his goodbye kiss without witnesses), she sent them off. "I had best get started," she told them. "Don't worry about the dishes, I'll tend them."

They gave in easily enough. "Come on, Em. I think I'll go take a look through my old room." He dragged her upstairs. When they had arrived the other night, he'd got as far as opening the door, established that it hadn't been turned into anything, not to mention still having only a single bed, and closed the door, heading for the guest room. He hadn't been up to more. The cursory look told him that his father hadn't changed it. Now it was time to confront his past.

"So, he really didn't do _anything_ to this room?" Emma asked, looking around. There was a poster of some soccer star she'd never heard of on the wall, along with a scarf marked 'Liverpool FC' tacked above the bed. A cork board held what looked like a school schedule and a bunch of random things that were probably really important at the time.

"He's had the housekeeper in. I know _I_ didn't leave it this clean. In fact, we had argued about it the morning before. I was supposed to keep things picked up so she didn't have too much to do. I told him I would do it when I got back. This..." He held up a forlorn looking stuffed sheepdog. "Papa bought it for me after ours died. He said it would do 'til we got a new one. And this..." He picked up a small framed photograph. "Storybrooke Knights." In the picture were a bunch of kids (she couldn't tell the sex) who looked like they had just lost a battle in a mud puddle, or with it. But they all looked really happy, wet and gathered around a trophy. "That was the day we won the regionals, beat the Ogres, our biggest rivals. It poured. There's me." He pointed himself out. "That's David and James, or maybe that's James and that's David, I never could tell them apart in pictures, left and right winger, respectively. They're mirror twins. Jack, Jaqueline, the only girl, which didn't bug anyone, but she was an absolute demon in the centre, and Graham in goal. This would have been after Gaston got bounced. He was a decent keeper, except that he wouldn't stay in goal and he got into fights with the other kids."

Bae put the picture down and went back to wandering. Emma went to the bookshelf to look through the books when one of the cats (she still couldn't remember which name went to which, but red collar for girl) slunk into the room, curiously.

"Hey girl, I don't think you are supposed to be in here," Bae said as she went straight under the bed.

"You'd better get her. I don't think anyone would appreciate her getting shut in," Emma told him.

"I'm on it," Bae said, kneeling down and looking under the bedspread. "What the..."

"What, find your collection of dirty magazines?" Emma asked off handed.

"No, those are probably still under the mattress. This..." He pulled a wrapped box from under the bed, and then another one, and another. "Happy Birthday, Bae, Love Papa," he read the tag attached. "The whole space underneath is full of them. I wonder..." He started counting. "It looks like there is one for every year, until..." Bae stopped and just sat there on the floor, looking at the boxes. The cat climbed into his lap and started batting at the ribbon. Bae petted her absently.

"Do you think?" Emma, who was still standing, went and opened the closet door. Just like the space under the bed, it was filled with wrapped presents, these in Christmas paper.

 

"Hey Belle," Bae said, coming into the kitchen. The house was starting to fill with the smell of baking and it looked like she was chopping vegetables to put in a large pot.

"Bae, did you enjoy looking through your room? I hope you like lamb stew, I'm..." She paused as she caught the look on his face. "What?"

"Do you know anything about a bunch of wrapped presents?" he asked.

"I...um...perhaps you'd best ask your father," she said, biting her lip. For a moment, Bae wondered what it would have been to have someone like Belle as a mother. He couldn't remember his own ever baking cookies. 

"I'm not asking...I don't know what I'm asking," he said, running a hand through his short hair.

"Your father loves you, and he missed you a lot," Belle told him, quietly.

"I think I'd better go down to the shop," he said. "Em's calling the office, she got a message of some kind. I'll be back." He was looking very distracted.

"Here, take these," Belle said, handing him a plate of cookies, still hot. "Talk goes better that way. I was saving these for him anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you like this little bit. It has been a long day and we can always use a little fluff. The Liverpool FC reference is because Robert Carlyle is a Liverpool supporter, but I suppose I can forgive him for that.


	12. Reflections

Bae decided to walk to the shop, hoping to clear his head and also so Emma would have the car if she needed it. Unfortunately, by the time he got to the shop, he still had no answers. His father was not the best at discussing emotions. In fact, they had done more of that this time since...well, ever. Though, the more he thought about it, it had not always been that way. 

When he was very little, it had been his papa who had been there when he scraped his knee or brought him a glass of water and sat with him when he had a nightmare. It was something that came on slowly. The more his father became involved in work, the more his mother harped on success or money, the less he'd been there and the more closed off he became. 

For a while when they had moved to Storybrooke things had been better, but then it was back to making money, amassing, well, things. Not that he could blame him, his father had grown up poor, and he wanted them never to go without. Then he'd taken up with that woman. Cora hadn't helped. Bae had seen it immediately. Where his mother had spurred him to some of his negative behaviours by her demands, Cora had encouraged them. But it wasn't just that. Cora had been a manipulative bitch, and he had seen her playing people (men) off against one another from the first time he'd met her. 

Even before she and his father had started their...whatever it was, he had not liked her. Henry Mills, Sr. wasn't one to play those games, or any game. He was a pleasant, genial man, who was well loved and worked hard for the town. The mayor had shown up at all the important town functions, school plays, choir concerts, and all the various children's sports matches, even though Regina hadn't participated. In fact, Mr. Mills seemed to love Storybrooke more than most things. Bae had once overheard Cora telling his father that he loved the town more than he loved her. From his adult perspective, he thought it was probably true. Like his mother, Cora had been very bad for his father. Belle, on the other hand, well, he felt like he was getting his papa back under her influence, and he was sorry he had resisted coming to see him sooner. 

When he arrived, his father was talking to Dove, giving him an envelope that probably contained his Christmas bonus. "Bae, what are you doing here? Is something..." his father asked, though even with the slight worry, he seemed glad to see him. 

"Delivery," he said, holding up the plate. "Hey Dove." He shook hands with the large bald man, who smiled at him. 

"Bae," he said. He was a man of few words, very few words. He was probably close to ten years Bae's senior and he had been doing odd jobs for his father since one day shortly after they moved to Storybrooke. Dove had come by the house with an old push mower, and said simply, "mow your yard, fifteen dollars." Even then, he knew very little about the man, and some things really hadn't changed. 

"I'll be with you in a moment," his father said, before giving Dove a few more instructions and a reminder to stop at the house for a plate tomorrow. The large man made a few noises of protest, but in the end, agreed. Belle seemed to have that effect. 

"I was starting to wonder when Mr. Guiliani gave her a bigger bird, but now I understand."

"Belle worries about him. She doesn't think he takes proper care of himself. Actually she worries for everyone. I don't know why I think I deserve her at all. She bakes cookies for the sick, makes sure Dove has Christmas dinner, she's everything I'm not. She's an angel, and I'm...well, I'm the monster that turns people out of their homes." He sighed heavily. Clearly, his father was busy trying to talk himself out of asking Belle to move in. He didn't know what had caused that, but he wasn't going to let his father do something that monumentally stupid. 

"When was the last time you put someone out of their home?" Bae asked. 

"Last month," his father answered immediately. "Keith Nottingham, for nonpayment of rent. The man would rather hold up the bar down the Rabbit Hole than work."

"Does he have a family?" his son asked. 

"Nottingham? Not at all. Not a woman in this town who'd have him. None of them that desperate. He took a swing at the last woman that dated him when she put him out for being a lazy git who wouldn't get a job. Graham locked him up for a couple of days." 

"When was the last time you put out someone in genuine need, or with children?" 

"That's not the point," his father said, dismissing his argument. 

"Yes, it is. The point is, you are letting your fears get the best of you, Papa, That has never worked well for you."

"I've always been a coward, son." 

"You'll only be a coward if you let her get away. Belle loves you, Papa, and she's good for you. If you let her get away, then I'll agree that you'll be a fool. You aren't a fool, Papa." 

His father didn't answer, but he was almost sure he had gotten through to him. "So, what brings you down? I don't think you came just to drop off those cookies. Come into the back, I'll make us some tea. Think I've two more customers coming in, but we've a little time."

 

"Seriously, I cannot believe they are doing this to me again," Emma growled, pacing around the kitchen. "Again, I've got more experience and better scores on my exams, but still, I'm stuck. It's like I'm going to have to go out to the far end of Brooklyn to move up." 

"I don't understand," Belle said. She had mostly been listening to Emma rant after she had come down, having gotten off the phone from work.

"It's like this, I passed my exams for detective, but I can only go to a house, a police precinct, that has an opening at my level. I applied to get out of Warrants, to go to the burglary unit over at Manhattan South. It was a good job, closer to home, easy transition to homicide when something opens up. Instead, they gave it to Murphy. The man is..." she paused and looked at Belle. "The man is a lunkhead." 

"So what are your choices?" Belle asked. She was a good listener. 

"I can stay in Warrants, which I hate, or I can apply for the only other open spot. But that one is in the Rat Squad."

"I'm sorry, the rat squad?" Belle asked. 

"Sorry, IA, Internal Affairs, the cops who police the cops. It's a career ender, unless you like it there," Emma explained. 

"That makes much more sense. I mean, I've heard that the rats are big and that they have a problem with them in New York, but I didn't think they required the police for that."

"I don't know, you haven't seen some of those subway rats, I don't know that my sidearm has enough punch. But seriously, I tell you, I'm almost tempted to throw in the towel and see about going somewhere else. Bae, he's an independent contractor, he can work anywhere. But really, where would we go?" She paused and sat down at the counter, picking up a cookie off the plate. "Don't mind me, I'm just really frustrated. This is the third time it's happened." 

"Well, there is nothing to be done immediately. Why not put it out of your mind for now and help me pack these cookies. Mary Margaret will be by for them soon. Besides, there are other things to think about, things that can be dealt with."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is still enjoying. Can anyone see where this is going? Drop me a comment. Thank you.


	13. Storm Warning

Bae came home with his father as the weather was starting to turn bad. They found Belle and Emma in the kitchen, and the house full of wonderful smells. "She draft you?" he asked, walking up behind his wife at the sink, and giving her a peck.

"Clean up only," she told him, while they ignored the other two doing much the same.

"I could get used to this, I'm still no cook," Rum was saying as he took off his coat. Belle smiled at him. Thus far he had dropped a few hints and she had not seemed adverse to the idea, but the asking was the difficult part.

'Well, why don't you two get a seat and have some lunch. It's cold out there. Mary Margaret says it looks like snow," Belle told them.

"Will do in a bit. Mrs Nolan is not wrong. Leroy says we've a storm coming in and he's got the best weather sense in Storybrooke, much better than those idiots on the news. Just need to check the wood and the candles in case the power goes."

"Oh dear. Well, if it does, we will still have dinner. The stove is on the gas, and tonight's is on anyway. I'll check and set the candles and the lamps out," Belle said.

"I'll help with the wood, Papa," Bae said instantly.

"Hey, I can lift and carry with the best of 'em," Emma said. "I'm better dressed for it." She looked at Rum's suit.

"I can..." he started, bristling a little, but Belle put a hand on his arm.

"Let them," she said quietly. "You know where everything is. Help me get the lanterns out. It'll go faster this way." He nodded reluctantly. It did make sense. Bae knew where the log store was and where the wood went, but Belle would have to give Emma directions on where the candles were, and where to put them.

"Come on Em. We do _not_ want to be doing this once the wind starts. At least we will have a white Christmas. I told you," he said before waving her to follow him.

 

All in all, it only took a little while to get prepared. Emma and Bae went back to their room to change. "So how did it go, or did you chicken out?" Emma asked when the door was closed behind them. Bae, half out of the thermal shirt he'd been wearing, gave a muffled, garbled answer from somewhere inside the fabric. "Once more, this time so I can understand you," she said as he reappeared, throwing the shirt aside.

"It went...you know, I think I've talked to my Papa, really talked to him, more in the last two days than I ever have? I mean, when I was a kid, there were things we couldn't talk about, but even after he found me it was just awkward. I guess, well, I just...I felt like we just couldn't talk. Neither of us is particularly good at it. You know he volunteered to come to New York?" he asked.

"He did, when?"

"When he first tracked me down. He called the first time because, well, he didn't think I would see him and he wanted to give me an out. It's a long trip for him too, no matter how he does it. Either he drives all the way, or he drives to Boston and flies, or takes the train. They are all hard on his leg, but he was willing to do it, for me."

"Why didn't you let him?" his wife asked, digging through the bag for a clean shirt.

"A lot of reasons, all of them stupid and selfish. I kept telling myself if he really wanted to find me, he would have done it sooner, even though I know it's not true. The thing is, I knew my mother was a liar, I knew she was lying to me then, but I didn't want to admit that. I could have reached out to him any time and I didn't. Not just the stuff with Henry, I could have done it when you were pregnant, or even when we were living in the Bug. It's hard to admit I was being a prizewinning idiot, and a classic rebel without a clue. I just...finding those presents, they proved that he never gave up on me, long after I gave up on him." Emma put an arm around him.

"Hey, we all do stupid things, remember that shoplifting beef? As long as you don't keep doing them. SO what did he say about the presents?"

"He said I was probably too old for them. He was a little embarrassed, but then, Papa's always had just a little bit of a pack rat problem. I suspect it's from coming up so poor. Anyway, he left it up to me," he explained as he looked at his clothes. "Do you think I need a shower first?" he asked before putting anything on.

"Depends. What are the chances of losing power, and for how long? Also, how much you want to keep sleeping with me, because I will boot you to the couch if you start stinking the place up."

"About 50/50, if things are the same as when I lived here. Want to join me?" he asked with a smile.

"I'll think about it. Now, what are you planning to do with those presents? You can't just leave them cluttering up your father's closet."

"I...I think I'm going to open them," he told her. "I guess I kind of feel like he went to all that trouble, I should at least...I don't know, acknowledge it? Show some gratitude? See what's in them, make the right noises? Besides, I thought maybe Henry would like some of them. Have you thought about what we're going to do? I mean, I think Henry really wants to have a relationship with us, and I..."

"You want to, I know, I do too. Was your father serious?" Emma asked.

"About what? About threatening Regina? Yes. My father never threatens without being willing to back it up. I will tell you this, if we went downstairs right now and told him that we wanted to take custody of Henry, he would make it happen without a second thought. He takes family very seriously."

 

When they had finished cleaning up, they went downstairs to find his father sitting at the counter watching Belle. He'd changed into a knitted sweater and a pair of trousers, clearly the effect of having Belle in his life, and it looked like they had the same idea. Despite the water being on the gas, no one wanted to take a shower in the cold. "Hey Papa, nice sweater, you make it?" he asked. "It's good to see you in casual clothes. I thought you'd got rid of them all when we moved to the states."

"Belle's idea," his father said, confirming his suspicion. "And her sweater."

"I'm not as good as he is," she said, looking up from where she was putting together a pie. "I'm trying to get everything possible prepared, just in case."

"It's all practice, sweetheart. So have you made a decision about..." he asked. He seemed a bit uncomfortable about the subject.

"I think I'd like to open them," Bae told him. The smile on his father's face told him it was the right answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little more, just a bit more emotional angst. I could use a winter storm to keep me in and write. Please keep with the comments. I'm glad you are enjoying it. Drama will come soon.


	14. Lights out

Rum had, predictably, suggested that they get a shower as they were leaving their room, in case of power outage. The young couple looked at once another and smiled, doubly so when they realised that he and Belle appeared to have the same thought they did. "Saving water," Bae said to Emma as they went into the bathroom.

It was decided to open the old presents after they had dinner, so as not to interfere with tomorrow. Bae brought them down with Emma's help, while Belle got Rum to set the table. Dinner was a rich lamb stew, his father's favourite for as long as he could remember, and bread fresh from the oven. Afterward, they took cups of mulled wine into the other room where the fire was already built up.

"This is good," Emma commented while Bae took a look at the pile of gifts from another time.

"Doubt any of them will be of use to ye now," his father told him.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," his son said, picking up the oldest package and giving it a shake. On Rum's lap, one of the cats, watched fascinated, while the other was looking on from the back of the settee, behind Belle.

"All right, quit stalling, Cassidy," his wife said, poking him. He grinned and started to tear the paper off the first box.

"Whoa," Bae said. "I wanted this so bad at the time, still do." He pulled out the Liverpool FC jersey and turned it around to look at the name on the back. "Wow, thanks Papa. Best player they ever had."

"There are those that would argue it with you, but don't know what good it is now."

"Sure it is, I can shadow box it and hang it. If I'd got it at the time, unless...I don't know..." he trailed off. Still lurking were a whole lot of 'what if's'. Instead of exploring that, he laid it carefully over the back of the chair he was sitting in and when back. The cats were already on the ground, stalking the torn wrapping paper.

By the time he got to the last box there was a pile of books, an extremely nice drawing set with a nice hardbound sketch book ('I can sure use that. I'm still drawing'), a hand knit sweater (we're so keeping that,' Emma declared. 'Might need it some day'), other football accessories which he swore he would find a place for, a computer, and finally, a large, heavy case. "What's this, Papa?" he asked as he opened it. Inside, in what was clearly its designed case, was a camera, an old fashioned one, with several lenses. "Oh, Papa," he said as he lifted it, almost reverently, out of the car. "You know how much..." He paused to get some control over his emotions.

"Told you I'd get you a proper camera when you were old enough," the older man said softly. "Bit o'rubbish now."

"No, it's not! This is a classic, Papa. I still like to shoot with film. This is absolutely amazing." He was already examining it with the eye of one who knew his equipment. Belle put a hand on Rum's arm and smiled. "I just have to get some film, not sure I brought any with me," he said, pointing it at where his father and Belle were sitting as if framing a shot. Then there was a blink, like a flash going off, and the lights went out.

"Well, that was timing," Bae said.

"We'd best get the lanterns lit," Belle said, getting up.

"We can all do it, it'll go faster," Emma said. Rum had risen, startling the cats who had been having as much fun with the wrapping and boxes as Bae had unwrapping.

"Here," he said, lighting the first emergency candle and setting it in the holder. "Belle, why don't you start with the kitchen. Bae, do you still remember where..."

"Got it, Papa. Come on, Em, we'd best clear this stuff up before someone falls."

"Make sure you..."

"Turn everything off, I remember," his son said. Belle had already unplugged the Christmas tree and was headed for the kitchen, accepting the lit candle as she passed.

Bae took one, as did Emma and they started for the stairs. "These things look like the illustration in a nursery rhyme book I saw once," she said of the brass holder with the loop.

"Same thing," Bae said. "Actually, they probably are antiques. These, my great gran's silver tea set, and the spinning wheel, not the one in the shop, the one over in the corner, the one in the shop is old, but not that old, actually I don't know, it belonged to Papa's aunts too. They are about all that's left from the house in Scotland. OR at least all that is left after my mother...When Mama left, she took a lot of things with her, pretty much anything that was in the house, easily portable and worth anything. Papa thinks I don't know, and I'm not going to tell him. Yes, this one first, keeps the stairs safe." He pointed to the lantern on the table. "I think he suspected she was going to do something. He was good with money, but my mother, well, she liked to spend it."

"That doesn't surprise me. Actually I'm not sure you could tell me anything about her that would surprise me," Emma said as they moved from the landing up the stairs.

"That's why she had an account for the household stuff, and one for her own personal use, but he kept her locked out of the big accounts, said he wanted to keep things straight for taxes and investment purposes. Not that I think by that point he much cared. They fought over it, when they thought I was asleep. Here, take that globe off that one, that's right, just lift it straight," he directed, holding his candle so she could see what she was doing. "These old oil lanterns are stable but heavy. There. We'll do Papa's room and ours next."

"Anyway, you were saying," Emma said.

"Well, he tried to shield me, he made excuses when she was out or didn't make a game or teacher meeting. Then one day, she was just gone."

"And he never..." Emma asked.

"He told me she had gone away for a little while to sort some things out," he said as they left the bathroom. They had just finished and were heading for the stairs when they heard Belle scream.

Bae rushed down the stairs at a speed he probably hadn't used since he was ten, leaving Emma to catch him up. He followed the sound of her voice through the kitchen towards the cellar door. He looked down and there was Belle at the bottom of the stairs. His father was on the floor trying to pull himself up with her help.

"Belle, Papa, what..."

"Bae, help me," she said, as he hurried down.

"I'm fine, Belle, it's nothing," his father said. "I don't need help." He levered himself up.

"What happened?" the young man asked as he bent down to help his father up.

"Nothing, just tripped on the stair," the older man said. "Just let me..." He put his bad foot down, and started to fall. If Bae had not been holding him, he would have gone over again. He cursed, and tried it again.

"Come on, Papa, let's get you upstairs. Maybe..."

"Should I call 911?" Emma asked from the top of the stairs. She had accessed the situation and decided she was more useful out of the way.

"Not at all. I'm fine, just need to get me stick and..."

"I don't think so," Belle said behind him. "You've hurt yourself."

With a certain amount of stubbornness and a lot of cursing in an accent that had thickened to the point that Emma couldn't understand him (and wasn't exactly sure she wanted to), they got him into the kitchen. But even with his stick, it was clear, despite his attempts to cover it, that he had done something to his bad leg.

Then the arguing began. Belle wanted them to call 911 or barring that, take him into the hospital. "A and E will be a madhouse in this weather, love," Rum tried to convince her. "Couple of aspirin and a scotch, I'll be fine." Unfortunately for him, Bae was siding with Belle.

"Papa, it needs looking at. If we can't get you to go to the hospital, why don't you call Doc? He'd make a house call."

"Doc's retired mostly, these days," he told his son.

"But Doctor Whale is only a few doors away," Belle said determinedly.

"Belle..." he started, but realising that he was outnumbered, he gave in. "Fine, call the quack. If he's home and if he's willing, he can look me over, but I'm tellin' you, love..." But she had already gone for the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this has taken so long. I finally finished my original novel and Ive been suffering from sinus headaches. But I'm hoping I'm back in form. Please remember to leave me a comment. The addition of Doctor Whale was suggested by one of my readers, so here you go. Oh, if you want to take a guess at the name and number on the jersey, have at it. I've made it Liverpool in deference to Robert Carlyle's support for the team, despite my own personal feelings on the subject (Forever United!).


	15. House call

Unfortunately for Rum, the doctor was home, awake, and willing to come. Belle had lit many more candles in the living room and Bae had helped his father into his chair (he'd flat refused to lay on the settee), where Belle pulled the pouf under his leg and the cats, disturbed by all the fussing, crept out and climbed into his lap. Belle cleaned up the paper, with Emma's help, while Bae cleared away the presents, except the camera case and the football jersey, which he tucked under the tree, though he kept looking at the case as if reassuring himself that it was still there. The laptop, which had been state of the art when his father bought it, but was now slightly behind the times, he had taken and put on the table in the front room, saying he had a use for it, when he had time to get it set up. 

It didn't take long for the knock at the door, and Bae went to answer while Belle went to find the hot water bottle. He admitted a bundled figure with a bag, liberally covered in snow. "It's going to be pretty deep out there," he said as he unwound the scarf from his face. "Lucky you caught me. Leroy is going to come get me in the plow truck on his way back past to take me to the hospital. The fewer people driving, the better. Doctor Franklin Whale, and you are Bae. I was several years ahead of you in school." 

Bae shook hands with the sandy haired man, who he only vaguely had any awareness of. His manner was sort of friendly, like he was going through the motions of being a human being, but only just managed it. "You were in Regina's class?" he asked. There was something else about him, but he couldn't quite remember. 

"The year ahead of her. So..."

"Bring the quack in here son, bloody get this over," his father's voice called from the other room. 

"I see that his temperament was unaffected," the man said and turned to follow the voice with his bag. "So what happened?"

"Nothing. I tripped on the stairs and twisted me ankle. They are overreacting," Gold growled. 

"Don't make me find my cuffs," Emma threatened as she came in. 

"Hel-lo," the doctor said, brightening. 

"That's my daughter in law and she's a police officer, so best keep your eyes on your work," the older man said. 

"Ah yes, well, let me take a look. I am going to assume that the one you twisted was the damaged one." He dropped down next to where the ankle was propped up. "No other injuries?" Whale asked, suddenly all professional, as he removed the shoe. 

"No, probably a couple bruises, but nothing else," Rum told him, bracing himself as the sock came off. He bit back a curse and one of the cats hissed at the doctor, having correctly identified him as the source of his pillow's unfortunate noises. The other scurried up to his shoulder for reassurance, though his or hers, only she knew. "Bae, Emma, you've no need to stay. Why don't you take these two into the kitchen?"

The two of them did as he asked, but were back moments later. Bae had no intention of being banished like the cats, or like when he was a child, when they needed to change the bandages. Emma pronounced the doctor 'kind of creepy' and wanted to keep an eye on him. 

When they returned, the doctor had his father's pant leg rolled up and was examining his ankle as Belle held a high powered flashlight on it, throwing the scars into sharp relief. Emma turned when she heard the sharp breath. Bae was looking a little green. "Bae?" she asked quietly. 

"I've never seen it," he told her. "All I remember was the bandages. He always kept it covered, and well, Mama couldn't stand the sight."

"You good?" she asked. He just nodded and squeezed her hand. He'd told her at least some of what he and his father had talked about, but she knew it was still pretty awkward. 

"Well," the doctor said after careful examination. "The good news is it does not appear to be broken, or not anymore than it was before. Looks like you've got a bad sprain. Unfortunately with the already damaged state of it, it's going to give you a lot more problems. I would prefer that you come in for an x-ray though. I'd like to get a good look at the joint, make sure you didn't crack anything. I'd also like to get a good look at those pins."

"That doesn't sound good," Bae said. 

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much. But with the extensive damage to the joint, the healed fractures and...". He continued on into what he probably thought was a thorough explanation. To Emma is sounded like impenetrable medical jargon just for the sake of it. Finally she had enough. 

"Look, do we need to take him to the hospital tonight or not?" she interjected. 

"Honestly, I think it is probably fine for now, certainly not bad enough to risk being on the road. The hospital is going to be crazy tonight as it is, and more people aren't going to help. For now, play it safe, keep off it as much as possible, keep it elevated, and I'm going to give you an anti inflammatory. I don't have any pain meds with me and..."

"And I wouldn't take them anyway," Rum agreed. It seemed an old argument. The doctor just sighed. 

"I keep telling you, there are specialists in Boston and New York. They did what they could, but today, there are so many more options. You could get..."

"We've had this conversation before," Rum said sharply. "I'll not have it again. I've no interest in another round of operations and doctors poking at me." Before the conversation could deteriorate any further, they heard a loud honking outside. 

"That will be my ride," the doctor said, rising. He dug through his bag, having reclaimed his flashlight and pulled out some pill packets which he passed to Belle. "See he takes these and bring him to get those X-rays after the power comes back." He continued to give her instructions as he hurried into his outdoor gear and was shown out. 

"See, told you, nothing," his father said, pulling down his pant leg and hunting for his discarded sock. Emma turned to poke at the fire, while Bae sat down near his father and looked at the ankle. 

"Ah, Bae, you don't..." Rum said, still trying to find a way to keep his son from looking. But rather than comment on it, Bae got up and filled a scotch and brought it to him. 

'Why won't you accept the pain pills?" he aske.d. 

"Don't like my mind clouded," his father told him, accepting the glass. "Should turn in. Don't' want to miss Christmas morning."

"I'm not nine anymore, Papa. I'm not going to come and jump on your bed at the crack of dawn," his son teased. 

"Better not," he said. "Might see something you don't want to. Now where is my stick?" 

"Oh no you don't," Belle said as she came back in with a glass of water. "First you are going to get these in you, and then, with Bae's help, we are going to get you upstairs. You heard what the doctor said."

"He's a quack," Rum told her.

"You said yourself, he's a brilliant quack," she countered.

"Fine, he's a brilliant quack, but..." Belle leaned over and whispered something in his ear. "Really now?" he said with a smile that might have been a little wicked. 

"If you let Bae help get you upstairs." she told him. 

"Deal." Bae and Emma looked at each other, and mutually decided they didn't even want to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I appear to be back up and writing. Thank you for reading, and keeping with me. Please let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy this. There was a prompt to have Whale make a housecall, and here we are.


	16. Morning

Christmas morning announced itself with the sound of the snow plow out on the street. Rum woke to his favourite sight, that of Belle curled around him. Due to the power outage they had added an extra thick duvet to the bed. Under the heavy bedding, in addition to him and Belle enjoying the warmth, was a round pile of gently vibrating black fur nested against the side not occupied by his love. Even as he watched, the pile stretched in opposite directions, opening two sets of eyes and revealing wide, white fanged yawns. Their feline companions clearly did not approve of the snow plow. Either that or they didn't like anything that disturbed their comfort, or both. Mungo burrowed deeper under the covers and curled up against the pillow that, at Belle's insistence, elevated his ankle, while Rumple settled beneath his arm, turned around, and tucked in to return to sleep.

"Ummmm," a long interrogative sound came from his personal sleeping beauty. "What..."

"Just the plow, love. You can go back to sleep, it's early," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"And what if I would rather do something else?" she asked with a smile as wicked as either of the little imps could produce.

"I will defer to the lady's wishes," he told her as he pulled her closer for a kiss. By the time they emerged from their morning greeting, the two cats had retreated to the other side of the bed to get away from their human's unseemly early play. "Now love, what were you thinking?" She just smiled and went for the buttons on his pyjama top.

 

Rum was well on his way to not caring about his ankle, the power outage, or anything else for that matter, when there was a knock at the bedroom door. He cursed under his breath. "Don't suppose if we ignore them, they'll go away?" he suggested hopefully.

"Probably not," Belle told him, looking around among the covers for where Rum had tossed her nightgown.

"Papa? I came to see if you needed some help," his son called through the door. He resisted the urge to tell his son to be a good lad and bugger off. Instead he said a silent prayer for their agreement about knocking. Before he could answer though, Belle did.

"Let us get dressed and I'll come get you to help him downstairs," she said, smiling.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'll...I'll just be downstairs." They heard his footsteps retreating quickly.

"Well, now that we aren't like to be interrupted..." he said, turning back to her.

 

By the time Belle came downstairs, Bae had gotten the stove lit and the kettle and the percolator going. Emma was sitting at the counter, not looking entirely aware. "Belle, um, I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"Quit while you're behind," Emma recommended as she looked down into her cup.

"Your father is ready to come down. I'd hurry before he gets impatient and does himself another injury," Belle said. "Power still out?"

"Yeah, I threw the breakers, nothing. We should get the emergency radio out. Is it..."

"Still in the closet there. I'll get it," she said. Bae nodded and hurried out.

"Sorry," Emma told her. "I told him to wait, but I think being here, it's just...I've never seen Bae so happy about the holidays before. It's nice."

"What about you?" Belle asked, fixing the tea.

"Never much had Christmas growing up. Oh, some of the foster homes tried, and some of the group homes. People would donate things, come around to do their good deed for the year, but it wasn't the same." She shrugged. "But this, it's real, in a kind of Hallmark movie kind of way."

"Oh, you should be here for the whole thing..."

When Bae returned, helping his father, Belle was deep in a discussion of all the Storybrooke Christmas events, while she put a pan of muffins into the oven. "So last year, David from the animal shelter..."

"David Nolan, you met him at the shop, Em," Bae interjected.

"Yes. Anyway, he was running an adoption event during the library Christmas party. That's where those two came from," she explained. The cats, having decided that if people were going to be awake, they should be fed, if only for the inconvenience of being disturbed, twitched an ear each in their direction before returning to their breakfast.

"Aye, the two of them climbed up on Belle and by the time we were both extracted, well..." Rum added as she directed him to a chair with a pillow for his ankle.

"It was so successful, we did it again this year," she told them, while she got Rum comfortable.

"The library party? I remember there being one. Punch and stale cookies, and some very lame Santa," Bae said. Belle and Rum shared a smile.

"Oh, Belle has made it quite an event," Rum told them proudly. "Desert buffet by the PTA, drinks from Granny, and just about everyone involved. This year it was even bigger. I thought Regina was going to have an aneurism. She's not keen on the library, and since Belle and I are together... well, she's only got worse."

"Maybe we can come for longer next year," Bae said. "Depending..."

"Depending on what?" his father asked, sensing he was missing something.

"Depending on where we are. Emma's thinking of looking at other police departments," he said with a shrug. "Still just a thought."

"Is she now?" Rum asked, interested. But then he turned back to his tea.

"What are you up to, Rum?" Belle whispered.

"Nothing love, just thinking," he told her. She let him get away with it, for the moment, but she knew he had something on his mind. Rather than worry about it right then, though, she went to check the muffins, while Bae tuned in the emergency radio.

"Looks like we might have power sooner, rather than later," he announced as they all turned their attention to the little box.

"Good. I can still cook, but the lighting leaves a lot to be desired," Belle said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Last Monday, my bag was stolen, along with my ipad, all my notebooks and the only printed copy of my finally finished novel(yes, I have back ups, in two states, my back ups have backups). I spent most of the week dealing with that, but now everything is more or less back on track. Thanks for having patience with me, and I hope you enjoy this little interlude.


	17. The joy of Christmas

After they finished with breakfast, they went into the other room for the Christmas festivities. With the fire built up, the room was plenty warm, and it took a little time (and much grumbling on Rum's part) before everyone was settled in their chairs with hot drinks. First, Belle went and removed from their place in a closed closet, a couple of very small wrapped packages, which she gave to the cats, who retreated to their warm, comfy bed by the fire to dismantle in peace. "Catnip mice," Belle explained. "They should keep them occupied at least for a little while."

"Or at least until they get bored and discover that we have things to amuse them with," Rum said. Then it was time for presents. Of course, being adults, it was not the production it had been when Bae was a kid, and Belle would not allow Rum to shower her with gifts the way he would like (and at least one present had been removed from under the tree when his son arrived, to be opened privately), but all in all, everyone enjoyed themselves. Gold was thrilled by the antique pocket watch from his son and daughter in law, while Belle was reluctant to let go of the antique book that Rum had given her.

Emma was still wowing over an antique swan pendant from her father in law when she followed Belle into the kitchen to help. Not that she needed much, having done a great deal of prep the day before. They left the two men clearing up the paper with orders to amuse the kittens and for Bae to keep his father off his ankle.

"How are you at table setting?" Belle asked as she peered into the dark fridge.

"I'm an expert there," Emma assured her.

"Good. It's one less thing to do. If the power stays off much longer we are giving too have to consider moving the food either outside or down to the cellar," she said surveying the contents. "Not that much of this isn't getting cooked soon but..." She stopped as a sound interrupted her.

"Did you hear that?" Bae said seconds later as he hurried through the kitchen towards the cellar with a candle in his hand.

"What was that?" Emma asked.

"The heat pump," Belle said. "If it's come up, the power is back." True to her word, moments later, they heard the refrigerator motor kick on and Belle turned on one of the kitchen lights with a huge sigh of relief.

With the help of Emma and Bae, Belle got all the candles and lamps blown out. "Best leave them where they are," Bae said. He helped his father into the kitchen, ('not a bloody invalid,' he growled, but was ignored), before recruiting Emma to help clearing a path. "We don't need to shovel everything, but it might help if we can get out the back door," he said.

"Don't do too much, Bae. Dove will be round to do it. You know how seriously he takes his job," his father said.

By the time the two of them came back in, the kitchen was starting to fill with good smells and Belle had brought Rum some knitting. Emma seemed a little surprised, but after the spinning wheel, she wasn't sure why she should be. Instead of commenting, she followed Bae upstairs to get cleaned up. There had been snow clearing, and salting, but there had also been a lot of horsing around. Emma might just have shoved a snowball down her husband's pants, and he had definitely retaliated with one down the back of her jacket that resulted in an all out snowball war in the front and side of the house. They were both warm from the exercise, but also wet, and he reminded her they should get cleaned up now, especially while the house was nicely warm. "The power could go again," Bae warned her. "It's pretty calm now, but the storm could turn around, or the wind could pick up, or...well, the power can be pretty flakey."

They were in the bedroom getting dressed when Emma commented. "So your father and Belle.  It's serious isn't it?"

"More than serious. I've never seen him this happy, not even when things were good with Mama, or as good as they ever were. I'm glad. It's kind of weird but it's like he's..." He paused for a moment. "I guess it's kind of like the way he was before everything got bad, only with someone who makes him happy. I'm probably being sentimental or something."

"It's okay, he's not what I expected," Emma said.

"What were you expecting, a two headed ogre? I mean, he can be ruthless, and unrelenting. He doesn't suffer fools at all, but for family, well, he'll actually do anything for family."  He turned and looked at her.  "You know, we really need to..."

"Later," Emma cut him off. She didn't want to go down that path, what they were going to do about their son, right now. Their son, it was hard enough to think about. It was going to take a lot of serious discussion before they made any decisions.

 

Downstairs, Belle was sitting with Rum at the table. She had put a plate out with some snacks of some sort along with a dish of nuts, and another dish of pickles and olives. "I thought you might want a snack after all your work."

"Just smelling the food is enough to make me hungry," Bae said.

"No, you're always hungry," his wife said fondly.

"So nothing has changed there then," his father said.

"Hey," Bae complained.

"It's true, but I could go for something too," Emma said.

"Good, we have time. Bae, if you want, you can help your father into the other room. Maybe you can catch the football review."

"God, I haven't really been..." he started. "Papa?"

"Football it is, but I don't need..." Belle glared at him. "Thank you," he reversed himself, knowing that look well, it was probably a safer option.

 

An hour later, there was a knock on the kitchen door. The two men had been having a nonstop discussion on the state of the premiership in general, the team in specific, and Emma was completely lost. Belle started to get up, but Bae beat her to it. "It's got to be Graham," he said as he headed towards the back door. No one much used the front door unless it was a stranger, or business. They could hear the two men greeting one another at the back donor, and a few minutes later, he returned with the sheriff behind him.

"Hey Belle, Mr. Gold, thank you for the invitation," he said. "Emma. I brought this." He handed over a bag, the sort that gifts of wine came in.

"I'll take that," Belle said. "I need to check on everything anyway. Graham, there are some snacks, help yourself."

"I'll help," Emma said immediately. The sheriff seemed nice, a bit shy, and she wanted to ask Belle about him.

"Mr. Gold," Graham said, sitting down in the chair he was offered. "I'm sorry that..."

"Nothing to apologise for," Gold said, brushing it away.

'What..." Bae asked.

"After you...disappeared, I didn't know what to say to your da," Graham told him. "And Mam wasn't keen..."

"It's nothing. I told you. Now if you wish to apologise for your taste in clubs, unless you've seen the light..."

"You aren't still..." The conversation turned back to football, much to everyone's relief.

 

"So the sheriff, well, clearly he's not from around here. What's the deal?" Emma asked as she joined Belle in the kitchen, leaving behind a conversation that was clearly not in a language she spoke.

"Graham moved here before I did, but my friend Ruby told me he and his mum came to live with his mum's sister after his dad died. I think it was a road accident. His uncle was some relation of Granny and Ruby's. He died not too long after they came," belle explained. "It's a very small town. Graham's a good man though."

"He seems a little...I don't know, shy maybe?" she suggested. "Maybe it's just that I'm used to the cops I work with, they are a lot louder."

"He's quiet, especially with people he doesn't know. Not that in a town the size of Storybrooke there are a lot of those," Belle told her. "Want to help me with this? You can get that platter down from the butler's pantry over there, left side, second shelf down. I need to make a plate for Dove too."

"That's the big guy who works for Gold, right?" Emma asked. "Why not just invite him?"

"Oh, Dove would never do that. He _is_ that shy, he's not terribly good with people," she explained, handing her a bowl. "Best take this spoon, and call them before they get entirely entangled in the sport."

 

The Christmas supper was an absolute success. There was an awkward moment when Rum insisted on carving the goose, ankle or no ankle, but afterward everyone settled down to the serious business of eating.

"Sure you made enough?" Emma had teased, as she carried potatoes and roasted vegetables from the kitchen into the dining room.

"Belle cooks as if she were feeding a rampaging horde of ogres," Rum had said.

"That's okay, Graham and I can do our part, right?" Bae had told them, and the other man nodded with a smile.

Now everyone was sitting back at the table with happy smiles and full bellies. Even the cats had wandered off, full, to their bed. "I've not had a meal like that in a long time," Graham said. "Thank you for having me, but I should get back to it."

"You really should get a deputy," Rum said. "It's provided for in the town budget, I happen to know."

"I should, but the last time I advertised the only applicants I got were Gaston Gregory, and Keith Nottingham. I'd not trust either with a gun. Actually I would take their hunting licences if I could."

"Yes, you need an applicant with actual law enforcement experience," Gold said, looking at his daughter in law.

Graham followed his gaze. "Thinking about giving up the city?" he asked, immediately catching on.

"I don't...". Before Emma could get any further, the sheriff's phone rang and he started to answer, trying to rise. The voice on the other end was loud and seemed almost hysterical.

"Regina, slow down, I can't understand...He's what? When?" He had gotten to his feet and was clearly getting agitated himself. "I'll be there in a moment." He hung up the phone. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"What's the matter?" Belle asked.

"That was Regina. Apparently she and Henry had an argument, and when she went to check on him, he was gone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy, leave those lovely comments and things.


	18. The Hunt for Henry

"Henry? I'm coming with you," Emma said. She and Bae were already out of their chairs and even Gold was reaching for his cane.

"It's nice of you to offer, but..." Graham started.

"It's not up for discussion," Emma said. "The Bug's buried, but..."

"Where would he go?" Gold asked. He was starting to get up as well. It was measure of the distraction that no one said anything. "Dove will be here shortly, the truck is equipped for the weather. That's two, though it's probably actually better even than the squad car. But where?"

"He has that sort of fort at the old playground by the beach, but I doubt he'd go there. Friends?" Belle suggested.

"I'm sure that Regina is calling them now," Graham said.

"I'll get the coats," Bae said, hurrying from the room.

"Really, thank you but..."

"He might be coming here," Belle observed, voicing something that was just occurring to the others.

"Yes, which is why you. And Gold should stay here," Emma agreed.

"Why would he come here?" Graham asked, accepting his coat from Bae, but completely confused by the reaction.

"He's our son," his old friend said. Graham blinked and started to say something.

"Talk later, after we've found him," Emma said, pulling the hat over her blond hair while Bae was getting the gloves out of his pocket. "How far is it, if he is coming here?"

"If he comes by the road, maybe three quarters of a mile?" Graham hazarded a guess.

"What about the back way?" Bae asked. "Would he try it?"

The sheriff considered the question seriously. "He might," the man said with a sigh. "And we may have an hour of light left if we are lucky. Do you remember the way?"

"I can still do it. I'll start this end, you come down the other way?" Bae suggested. "But what about..."

"Henry only has a couple of close friends," Belle said. "He wouldn't try to get to the Tillman's, they are on the far side of town, but he might go to Grace's. I'm not sure if Regina would call, though. She doesn't approve of him being friends with her, or rather, she doesn't like her father."

"I'll call Madden," Gold said. Clearly he wanted to do something. "He can start from the top, besides he's got quite a perch up in that old pile. You can go with Dove when he arrives, he knows the way, and the truck is more likely to be able to make it up there," he explained to Emma. Bae nodded, and he and Graham headed towards the back door. "There are a couple of high powered torches in the closet by the door," he called to them as they went.

Emma paced the dining room. "I should do something.  I don't do waiting around," she said.

"Ms Swan, Emma, you don't know the area. Dove will be here soon. Meanwhile, you might want to..." The knock at the door interrupted his response. Moments later, having been given his brief, Dove took Emma and headed out. Gold pulled out his phone and dialled the number. "Madden, Gold. Henry Mills is missing."

 

Time seemed to drag after that. Belle dealt with her nerves by packing up leftovers and cleaning up the kitchen. Unfortunately Rum had no such distraction. While he was certainly willing to help in the kitchen, she would not allow it with his injury. He tried to remain calm, after all, he asked himself, would he have felt this way a few days ago, before he knew the lad was his own flesh and blood? Rumple, who seemed the more sensitive to emotional disruptions, climbed up into his lap and tried to distract him, but it was no use.

 

Finally, when the tension had reached the breaking point, there was the sound of boots stamping on the back porch. Belle had the door open before they got to it, for they it was, Bae and Henry, both pretty well covered in snow. "Come in," Belle said, hustling them into the warm kitchen. "Give me those coats and get your boots off. Did you have to roll in the snow?"

"Fell off the path into a drift. Call Em please, and Graham," Bae said. "Let them know. My phone went dead, not sure why, but right now they need to know he's safe."

"Will do, and then, lad, you can explain what you meant with that stunt," Gold said, in a voice that Bae was well familiar with from his childhood. He picked up the phone.

By the time Gold had notified the relevant people (he left the telling of Regina to Graham, it was going to be bad enough already), Belle had sent both of them upstairs to change.

"Since Papa kept everything, I've probably got something dry you can wear," Bae said. By mutual unspoken agreement, they decided to let them get dried first, and wait for everyone else.

"What was he thinking?" Rum asked sharply after they had gone, earning a _mrrrr_ of disapproval from the cat in his lap.

"Rum," Belle said, trying to calm him. "This has all been a huge change for everyone. He's a boy. Do you mean to tell me you never did something stupid at that age?"

"Aye, I did my share, and if you ask me sometime, I might even tell you," he agreed with a lopsided smile. She was good at calming him and putting things into perspective.

The sound of more feet coming up onto the porch announced new arrivals, this time Emma and Dove. "Where..." she started.

"Upstairs getting dry clothes," her father in law said.

"I've got the kettle on," Belle said. "Dove, do you want a warm drink before you go back out?"

"No, Ma'am. I'll just get on." The librarian smiled and handed him a carrier bag full of food.

"Thank you, Dove," Gold said quietly. The man only nodded and left without another word.

"He really doesn't say much," Emma said as she pulled off her jacket and went to hang it. There was the sound of more footsteps on the porch and a moment later the door burst open and Regina Mills was standing there.

"Where is my son?" she demanded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And part two to last nights dramatic ending. You know what to do


	19. Cats out of bags

"Henry is upstairs warming up and getting dry clothes and I'll thank you to modulate your tone in my house." Rum had risen from his seat with the aid of his cane, Rumple having run off at all the unseemly noise.

"Don't you.." Regina started then stopped. Graham was looking at her. "Fine, thank you for finding him, now if you can return him, we will leave."

"He's not a lost handbag that you can just come and claim, you know," Emma snapped. "What was he doing out there in the first place, I'd like to know."

"My relationship with my son is none of your business," Regina shot back. "Any of you. Now, I'll just take Henry..."

"What if I don't want to come home with you?" Henry asked as he came into the room with Bae.

"Henry Mills, you will do as you are told.  We are _not_ going to have this discussion in front of these...people," she spat.

Gold looked at Henry. It wasn't the timing that anyone wanted, but he could see the signs, Now that he was looking, he could see Bae's stubborn streak. It was never going to go well, no matter what they did, but if Henry wanted to explode that hand grenade right now, so be it. He caught the boy's eyes, and he nodded, letting him know he'd back him.

"It is their because they are my parents," Henry said. Regina went pale.

"The...they...it can't... You knew about this," she accused Gold, pointing an angry finger in his direction.

"I didn't as it happens," he said mildly. "If I had, you'd never have got him." But Regina was ignoring him to go after a new target.

"And you," she shouted at Bae. "I should have known you came back just to destroy my life again."

"Oh, get off it, Regina. I didn't tell you anything that half the town didn't know already, and my papa wasn't the only one," Bae shot back, giving as good as he got.

"Enough," Gold said sharply, never raising his voice, still it cut through the kitchen like a knife. Everyone looked at him. "Now, since that's all out in the air, I am going to suggest we sit and discuss this like adults. Graham," he addressed the sheriff. "Of all the people here, you are not involved. Perhaps you would like to go?"

"Are you certain you don't want me to stay?" he asked, though who he was asking was anyone's guess. The sheriff looked from one to another and back again.

"I'm not staying here! Henry is _my_ son, I adopted him, and I am going to take him home. Come on." She started towards him, but Bae stepped between them. "Sheriff..."

"Really, Regina? That's your response, to set the sheriff on your son's father?" Gold asked her, his voice softer. Regina turned, but then she saw the look on her son's face and she crumpled a little. "Graham, you should go," the older man told the sheriff. After looking around and seeing that Gold had everyone seemingly in hand, left, promising to return to drive them home.

Belle, who had been quiet the entire time, finished making tea and cocoa. She started to pass out mugs, encouraging people to sit down at the table. "Why does she get to be here? I see no reason to..." Regina started.

"I can..." Belle started.

"Why don't you and Henry go into the other room, sweetheart?" Gold suggested.

"No, I don't want to be shut out," Henry said.

"Henry..." Rum started.

"No Papa, let him stay," Bae said surprising them all. "I know what it feels like when it seems everyone else is talking about your life. I know you tried to protect me, Papa, but I think Henry should stay if he wants to." Regina looked like she was going to object, but instead she shook her head.

"Tea or cocoa?" Belle asked.

 

Once they all had drinks and were sitting at the table, it was as if no one knew where to start. Regina was looking angry and disgruntled, drinking her tea as if it was poison. Finally Rum, who had been in more than his share of uncomfortable situations, started. "Henry, why were you out there anyway? You know how dangerous that was, lad," he asked. Perhaps easing into this was the best thing. As much as he knew he could take on Regina, and as much as he had enjoyed the game over the years, this was far more important. If they could bury the hatchet, and not with Regina burying it in his head, it would make it much easier.

"That's not...". Regina started, but was quelled with a look.

"After the other day, I kinda thought I'd, you know, raise the idea about my birth parents with my mom," he began, looking a little accusatorially at Regina. "She got mad and said I was lucky to have her and how my birth parents were probably.." He paused.

"All right, enough of that, so..."

"She told me to go to my room," he said, looking at his cocoa. "But I knew she was wrong and I needed to know why and I figured I would come and I guess I, well, I was kind of mad," he admitted. "But I remembered my long johns and extra thick socks. Besides, I figured she'd be busy with the sheriff and I..."

"Henry!" Regina exclaimed. "How..."

'Everyone knows, Regina, it's the worst kept secret in Storybrooke, " Gold told her. "Now, can we get on wit' it?" Regina had the good form to blush and looked down at the table.

"Not much else to tell," Henry said. "I started down the forest path because the sidewalks are mostly covered from the plow. Besides, with the woods, it's usually not so bad. Only it was deeper than I thought. Then, well, my father came," he said, looking at Bae. The words seemed to startle everyone, and for a moment everyone was quiet. "Mom, I didn't go looking for them to hurt you. I just wanted to know where I came from. But now that I know, I want to get to know them," he said looking at her pleadingly.

Emma and Bae looked at one another "We do too, kiddo."

"That's enough. I'm not going to..."

"You will, Regina or we will do this the hard way, which will involve the courts and messy legal entanglements. Henry, you had best go into the other room," Gold said. "Belle...

"But..."

"You're not..." Regina said, rising, this time with much less confidence than before.

"Sit down Regina," Gold barked. "You do not want to make this more difficult than it has to be. Everyone's holiday is already disrupted. Henry, there are some things that need to be said, things that have nothing to do with you."

"I'm not a little kid," Henry complained.

"You are not, and we'll have you back, but if we must sort this out, it's best to do the lot. None of that has to do with you." Belle stood. She wasn't sure she should have been there for any of it, but Rum wanted her, so she'd stayed. Now, with a certain amount of relief, she led the young man reluctantly out of the kitchen. "Regina, your vendetta against me, and your hatred of Bae need an airing, but Henry needn't be exposed to it."

"Don't know about you, but I could go for something stronger," Bae said, looking at the cocoa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Hope you are all enjoying. I'm out of town, so I might be a little slow to update. You know what to do.


	20. A temporary peace

"Aye."

"Scotch," Regina said.

"Yer father was a scotch drinker," Gold said fondly.

"Don't you dare talk about my father," Regina spat. "Not after you..."

Bae had stood up to get them drinks, but he turned and looked at the woman. "Come on, Regina. This is tired."

"He thought you were his friend," she accused. "You came to our house, you..."

"I was his friend, and I'll not make excuses. I behaved badly. It's not a simple story," Rum said, accepting a glass from his son, as he passed them around. "When your mother came to me, Cora told me she needed someone to talk to. Cora and I had...well, I'm not sure it was a relationship even then. Back at Uni, she and I dated for a bit. Bae, your mother and I had broken up. I'd found that she was seeing one of the blokes in the neighbourhood while I was at uni, should have known then, but that's neither here nor there. Cora was an exchange student, like me, she'd broken up with her boyfriend, your father, Regina, and for a while I thought I was in love with her. But Cora was always clear about what she wanted," he told them. He paused and picked up his glass for a drink.

"I never knew that you..." Bae started. Regina took a sip from her drink, but said nothing.

"Oh yes. After, when we moved to the states, I'd got in touch with her. We parted on friendly terms, we'd even gotten together when Henry and Cora came to New York. Then when my marriage failed, and I was looking for someplace else, she was the one who encouraged me to move to Storybrooke. So when she told me she needed...well, I could hardly fail to be there for her. Cora told me that she and Henry had drifted apart, that he...well, that they had drifted apart. I believed her. After all, I had been through my own failed marriage, and she...well, suffice it to say, she knew me well enough to know what arguments would work."

"So you slept with her?" Regina accused. "Is that the way you showed your 'friendship' for my father?"

"It wasn't quite like that," Rum told her. "But it did happen, yes. I could apologise, Regina, but frankly, I didn't do it to hurt your father, or you." He didn't try to deny it, or to justify it, just left the statement there. Regina looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped.

"Regina, your mom...I'm sorry papa, but it needs to be said, as long as we're getting everything out. It wasn't just you. That's partly why I hated the two of you together. I didn't trust her. One day after practice Graham and I were taking a shortcut back to the shop, and I saw her kissing someone else," Bae told them.

"What are you talking about?" Regina asked angrily.

"She was..." Rum started. He looked more confused than angry.

"There was another man, maybe more, I don't know. But I do know about the one, and he was married too," the young man said. "She was also having an affair with Albert Spenser." That information brought silence to the table.

"You never said, son," Rum told him quietly. "I shouldn't be surprised though. Cora never made a secret of her interest in power."

"No, because I didn't think you would believe me. You knew I didn't like her, I thought you would think I was lying to break you up. That's why I went to you," he told Regina.

"If you knew that, why didn't you say something when you told me about them?" she accused. Emma watched them. The woman was clearly on the defensive and the police woman knew that look. It was a look she'd seen before, frequently, in fact, on the faces of family members of people she arrested, the wives who suspected, but tried to ignore the signs.

"Regina, we weren't friends, we barely knew each other. But your father was a nice man. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you.  I told you what I did because I thought if you talked to your mother, and I talked to my dad, maybe we could convince them to stop. It probably wasn't the best idea, but..." he trailed off with a shrug. It was almost an apology, though he had done nothing, still, he needed to do something.

Regina sat back in her chair and took another sip of her scotch. "I have hated you, both of you, for a long time," she said finally. "I'm not sure that I can stop now. I'm not sure it matters. But I will not lose my son."

"We don't want to take him away from you, either," Emma said, speaking up for the first time. "This has all happened too fast for everyone. No one should be making any long term decisions. But we do want to get to know him."

"And you, Gold?" she asked. "You hate me as much..."

"No Regina, I've never hated you," he said simply, adjusting himself in his chair.

"But all the.."

"If you think on it, you'll notice I've only countered the moves you've made against me. If I hated you, do you think I would have bothered to have this conversation? I am willing to call a truce, if you are. As long as you make no move to prevent my grandson from seeing his parents, or me, and you stop your vendetta against the library," he told her.

"I've got no..." she started, but Gold just looked at her and she returned to her drink.

"Think about it this way," Emma said. "It's not like we live here. Yes, we want to see him, but we're not suggesting shared custody or anything."

"I suppose," Regina said reluctantly. She had never been good at letting go of grudges, she'd learned that from her mother.

"Bae, Emma, why don't you go and get Henry and Belle, let them know we've not killed each other." Emma looked at Gold suspiciously, but Bae nodded and they left the room. Clearly his father had something more to say to Regina, something he wanted to say in private. "Regina, I know this is not going to be easy, on anyone, so I will make it simple. As long as you play nice, I will. But if you try to make a move against my family, you will see exactly what I am capable of when I have reason." His voice dropped low and his eyes darkened.

"Threats, Gold?" she asked, trying to pretend to be unaffected, especially because she had considered double crossing him, and now, she was sure he knew that.

"Ah, you should know by now, I never threaten, dear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have come to the end of this story. But it is not really the end of course. That would be too simple. A temporary peace at best. Thank you for reading, and please, leave comments in the little box.


	21. Epilogue

Rum sighed and settled back on the settee. "Tired?" Belle asked.

"A bit," he admitted. The two days after Christmas, while less exciting, had been just as busy. Belle had insisted on taking Rum to have his ankle x-rayed, and the doctor had pronounced it 'no worse'. The day after the rather dramatic events of Christmas evening, Emma and Bae had lunch at Granny's with Regina and Henry ('Neutral ground" Gold had said). Regina was still having difficulty, but she appeared to be trying, if only for Henry's sake. She had even unbent so far as to allow them to take him out for the rest of the day and have dinner with the family at the big Victorian. Regina had been invited, but declined. "One step at a time," she had said. It was an acceptance of sorts, though Gold thought she was only being so accommodating because she knew they would soon be gone.

Now, Bae and Emma had left to go back to New York, with promises to arrange something for Henry's school break and that they would keep in touch. "This was good, Papa," Bae'd said, taking him aside for a word before they left, while Belle was loading Emma down with leftovers for the trip. "You haven't asked Belle yet. Why not?"

"Not that it's any of your affair, but I've not exactly had the opportunity, now have I?"

"Don't wait too long, Papa. She's special, a really good person, and she loves you."

"Thank you for the advice," Rum had said sarcastically.

"Please, Papa." His son knew him well.

"I will."

 

Now Bae and Emma were on their way back to New York, his new found grandson had gone home with his adopted mother, and he was alone with Belle finally. The time had come. Despite what he'd said to his son, he was actually ready to ask her, if he could just find the right words to say. It was hardly something that inserted itself easily into conversation. "Would you like a glass of wine?' he asked.

"I don't know, I should probably get my things. I have to go back to my apartment sometime. You must be getting tired of me, and we both have work in the morning. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome.," she teased. There it was, the opening he needed.

"You could never do that. In fact, Belle, how would you feel if I said I would like it if you never went back to that apartment?" Rum asked.

"Rum Gold, are you asking me to move in with you?" she asked, just to be certain she'd heard him correctly.

"It would be easier on the little imps, not having to go back and forth," he told her. Immediately he could see that it was the wrong tactic. "Besides, I...I love you, and I don't want to wake up without you again, if you..." Rum wasn't sure what else to say, but before he could worry about it, she was in his arms.

"I love you too, and if you want me here, then...Well, I hate waking up without you too."

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser, after having their comfortable nap disturbed by their humans playing went upstairs. With the humans occupied, the big bed was all theirs.

 

"Hey Papa," Bae said when he called two days later. "We are home safely. Emma says to thank Belle for the leftovers, they were a serious life saver. She's got work tomorrow night. It's New Year's Eve and everyone works, though she's not thrilled. To be honest, I think she's still pissed about the job. So what are you and Belle doing?"

Rum paused. A part of him, the part what was always plotting and planning, was taking note of Bae's comment, thrilled by his daughter in law's dissatisfaction with her job. But that was for later. "We are going to finish unpacking her things. She said yes," he answered plainly.

"Yes? That's great. Quick too."

"We wanted to start the new year with a proper new beginning." Rum hung up the phone a few moments later. Things were coming together well. Now it was time to drop a bug in a certain sheriff's ear and check his empty properties. He liked to be prepared. It was a good solution. It would make everyone happy. Well, everyone but Regina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I needed to clean up a few things. Yes, this particular line is not over. Thank you for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have been MIA for a while. Truth is, I have been working on finishing my first original novel. At least I was, until yesterday when the muse woke me up with this. A little late for the holidays but I hope that you read and enjoy and I promise to get back to the rest of my fics soon.


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